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Tennessee's Kim Caldwell will coach against No. 2 South Carolina, 7 days after giving birth

Caldwell missed the Lady Vols' game versus No. 7 Texas last week

ian casselberry
Contributing writer
·2-min read

Tennessee women's basketball coach Kim Caldwell intends to be on the sideline for the Lady Vols' SEC clash with No. 2 South Carolina on Monday, seven days after giving birth to her first child.

Caldwell only missed Tennessee's 80-76 loss at No. 7 Texas last Thursday. The Lady Vols have gone 15-4, with all four defeats in SEC play, thus far through Caldwell's first season in Knoxville.

"It was not great. It was uncomfortable but you get to see it from a different perspective,” Caldwell said to reporters about watching Thursday's game from home. “I was proud of our team, but it was not my favorite thing to do as a coach to stay home and watch my team.

“It does give you a little bit of a different view maybe, but not really because you always kind of go back and watch the broadcast anyway," she added. "So you will watch it clipped up and kind of in live stream. It was more of a helpless feeling than anything else.”

While meeting with reporters on Sunday, Caldwell said that she was back at practice on Friday. Both she and her son, Conor, are doing well.

Though Caldwell intends to coach Monday's home game, athletics officials did not say whether she would accompany the team on the road while she recovers from her pregnancy. Two of the Lady Vols' next four games are away, at Missouri on Feb. 2 and at No. 5 LSU on Feb. 9.

After hosting the 19-1 Gamecocks (8-0 in SEC play), Tennessee's next home game will be against No. 6 UConn (19-2) on Feb. 6.

Assistant coach Jenna Burdette was the acting head coach versus Texas and will continue to be in Caldwell's absence, according to Tennessee.

Caldwell, 36, was hired by Tennessee last April after one season at Marshall, where she won the Sun Belt's regular season and tournament championships with a 17-1 conference mark and 26-7 overall record. The Thundering Herd earned an NCAA tournament bid as a No. 13 seed, but lost in the first round to No. 4 seed Virginia Tech.

Before moving to Marshall, Caldwell coached seven seasons at Division II Glenville State, where she went 191-24 overall. In 2022, she led the Pioneers to a 35-1 record and the program's first national championship.