Kim Caldwell looked almost amazed as she walked on to the court at Food City Center on Monday.
The first-year Lady Vols coach had taken the 47-foot walk to half court 11 times this season. But none were quite like this.
Applause started to break out across the crowd, 12,033-strong, when they saw her emerge from the tunnel minutes before tipoff. The cheers built into a roar as the fans rose to their feet, giving Caldwell a hero’s welcome.
The reason? Caldwell was back on the sideline to coach No. 17 Tennessee against reigning national champion South Carolina — one week after giving birth to her son.
“I definitely wasn’t expecting it,” she said of the ovation. “I try to sneak in, and so I sneak in the back, I always try to go unnoticed. But it made it worth it. It made coming back worth it.”
The Lady Vols, down 22 points at the start of the fourth quarter, outscored No. 2 South Carolina 24-13, but their deficit was too much to overcome, and they fell 70-63, their third straight loss.
Caldwell was there for her Lady Vols (15-5, 3-5 SEC), though. She’s back for good, she said, and plans to be at Tennessee’s next game, on Feb. 2 at Missouri.
Caldwell missed just one game after Conor Scott Caldwell, her first child, was born on Jan. 20. She did not travel to Tennessee’s loss at Texas on Thursday, but she was back in practice Friday.
“I love this team,” she said. “I ask a lot from them, so I’m going to give them everything I have.”
When asked about how she handled the physical demands of being back on the sideline, Caldwell laughed and said “I’ll know probably more when I get home.” But she appreciated her team and staff for picking things up when she needed them to.
“I can move around OK, but it’s hard for me to yell,” she said. “So just having the players repeat things, having my staff repeat things, having them be able to just go up and call some plays when I need to sit. It’s big when you have people around you can trust.”
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley remarked that “women have the strength of 10 men” when asked about Caldwell’s quick return. Staley, who has led the Gamecocks (20-1, 8-0 SEC) to three national championships, knows better than anyone that wanting to hang banners comes with sacrifice.
So when women do make that sacrifice, Staley said they should be recognized.
“Women have to make decisions like that, and when they do, I feel like other women should honor them,” Staley said. “And let them know that we see you, we feel you, we hear you, and I congratulated her.”
Senior point guard Samara Spencer called it a blessing for Caldwell to be at games after “how hard she worked to get baby Conor into the world.”
Caldwell’s willingness to give the team everything means they owe her the same, Spencer said.
STALEY: South Carolina’s Dawn Staley on Lady Vols’ Kim Caldwell return: ‘Women have the strength of 10 men’
“I don’t have any experience, but I assume having a baby is very, very hard,” Spencer said.
“It’s not great,” Caldwell interjected, drawing laughter from the room.
“So we have to be able to put all of our emotions aside,” Spencer continued. “And put whatever we’re battling outside a basketball aside to be able to show up every day for her.”
Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her at cora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on Twitter @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Why Lady Vols coach Kim Caldwell returned one week after having baby
