Well, to start off we will dive right into the Lady Vols head coaching hire. Kim Caldwell out of Marshall has succeeded at every level she has been at. Granted she was only at Marshall for one year, but she led the Thundering Herd to a 26-7 overall record and a 17-1 record in Sun Belt Conference play. She was awarded Sun Belt Coach of the Year and led Marshall to their first NCAA Tournament berth since 1997. She promotes a fast-paced offense and lockdown defense that we will all absolutely love. Furthermore, she has an overall coaching record of 217-31 and has a phenomenal recruiting track record.

In other news, the Men’s basketball program has lost three players to the transfer portal. One of whom we did not see a lot of in DJ Jefferson. However, the other two are much bigger losses. Tobe Awaka was incredible this year at bringing an edge to the frontcourt that Jonas Aidoo couldn't at times, and his departure will sting. Lastly, Freddie Dilione also entered the portal after seeing some playing time this year, but not enough to where his loss will hurt all that much. While losing them will hurt it is time to dive into the portal and see what else we can grab considering we do have our share of luck in finding “lightning in a bottle”. This day and age is a different monster with the portal being involved. You will rarely get someone that stays their full eligibility in one spot but luckily we seem to be poised to retain a good portion of the roster.

Busy weekend ahead in Knoxville! Orange and White Game and the BaseVols host the LSU Tigers for a three-game series starting on Friday!