Tennessee women’s basketball head coach Kim Caldwell has had her baby, the school announced Thursday. Caldwell, who is in her first season at Tennessee, has led the Lady Vols to a 15-3 record while pregnant.
In a statement on social media, Tennessee said that Caldwell did not travel with the team to Austin for Thursday’s matchup against No. 7 Texas due to the birth of her son, Connor Scott Caldwell. Caldwell’s husband, Justin, is a member of the staff for the Tennessee men’s basketball team as a player development coordinator.
“Mom, dad and baby are doing well,” the team wrote in the statement. Tennessee assistant coach Jenna Burdette will take over as acting head coach during Caldwell’s absence, per the school.
Caldwell is in her first season with the Lady Vols after being hired by the school in April. Tennessee has high expectations for Caldwell: A clause in her contract states that the school will make her the highest-paid coach in the NCAA if she wins a national title.
But first, there was a wrinkle: The 36-year-old head coach announced that she was pregnant in a post on X in September, shortly before the start of the 2024-2025 season.
“Faith in God includes faith in His timing,” Caldwell wrote in the post, before announcing that her baby would be coming sometime in the winter.
Since then, Caldwell has led the team on a solid run through non-conference play, with some struggles this month against SEC opponents. The Lady Vols had back-to-back losses against No. 15 Oklahoma (87-86) and No. 5 LSU (89-87), losing both games by the slimmest margin.
Tennessee’s third loss was to unranked Vanderbilt on Sunday, where the Lady Vols lost by one point yet again. Caldwell coached Sunday’s game in what was likely her last appearance on the Tennessee sideline for a while.
The Lady Vols have a tough schedule still to come. After facing the No. 7 Longhorns, Tennessee’s remaining games include matchups against No. 2 South Carolina, No. 6 UConn and another game against the Tigers.
