An air of mystery surrounds the University of Tennessee women’s basketball team this season. After every player left the program, the Lady Vols were forced to undergo a complete rebuild. The roster no longer consists of flashy recruits. Instead, it’s filled with transfers seeking a fresh start.
“I think our advantage is that we all have a chip on our shoulder,” says junior guard Shaelyn Steele, a transfer from Penn State. “We are all coming from somewhere else and we have something to prove here, so I think that is a real advantage.”
Tennessee opens the season on Nov. 2 against Duquesne at Food City Center. The Lady Vols don’t play a Power Four opponent until hosting defending national champion UCLA Nov. 22.
In what is likely a make-or-break season for third-year head coach Kim Caldwell, Tennessee was picked to finish eighth in the SEC by the league’s coaches. No Lady Vols were selected for the preseason all-conference teams.
Tennessee is coming off a tumultuous 2025-26 season, finishing 16-14 and on an eight-game losing streak. As the losses accumulated, the team began to fracture. Caldwell’s leadership was called into question.
Along with having to restock the roster from scratch, Caldwell also had to replace her coaching staff, making for a hectic recruiting period. The Lady Vols signed 15 players in a 22-day span. Gabby Minus was the only incoming freshman who remained committed after the mass exodus.
“I’m very thankful for everyone that chose to be here and that picked us when the outside noise was saying run in the opposite direction,” Caldwell says. “I think that speaks a lot to the players that we have. They believed in themselves. They believed in us as coaches. They knew what they wanted.”
Junior forward Haley Peterson was one of the players who chose to join the tradition-rich program. A transfer from Stanford, Peterson has been impressed with how much the team has jelled.
“I think we are really far ahead compared to what I expected,” Peterson says. “Coming in with 15 new girls, you just do not know what to expect. I think we have all come together in working together so it has been great. And I think there is still a lot to work on. We are still working on day-to-day things and areas we need to fix, but we are headed in the right direction.”
Building team chemistry
Given all the turnover in the program, Caldwell and her staff have emphasized team bonding and encouraged the players to gather outside of practices and workouts. They attended different UT sporting events, took a team trip to Dollywood and made a visit to Dolly Parton’s Children’s Hospital.
“They have meshed together incredibly well. We’ve talked about it a lot. They are as close as they can be,” Caldwell says. “They live very close together. They hang out on and off the floor. I think that helps when they are on the floor, to be able to problem-solve together, to be able to take feedback from each other, to be able to lock in and lead each other when they need to.”
Although the Lady Vols don’t have any highly ranked recruits or preseason all-conference players like they did last season, they could have a better culture.
“(The players) make it fun. They make it fun to be here. They make it fun to coach them,” Caldwell says. “When we walk into the gym, we’re genuinely excited to be here. The gym is a place that people want to be. I don’t think we have any players that walk in and dread being in the gym. I don’t think we have anyone on our staff that walks in and dreads seeing a player.”
Rather than viewing the wholesale changes to the roster as a negative, the players are choosing to view it as a strength. They believe their different backgrounds and past experiences will make them more adaptable and provide knowledge that can benefit their teammates.
“I think a lot of girls here left their old schools for a reason, so I am really excited for everyone to have the opportunity to showcase what they have been working on,” says Aaliyah Moore, a sixth-year transfer from Texas. “We have been in the gym a lot this summer. We have some amazing shooters and great rebounders, so I am just excited for everyone to play together. It has been a long time.”