Turmoil at Tennessee--the abrupt descent of Lady Vol basketball

After a 9-game losing streak at the end of the season and an abrupt exit in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Kim Caldwell's Lady Vol basketball team has seen yet another disaster. With the announcement of freshman Jaida Civil that she is entering the transfer portal, Kim has now lost her entire team, something unprecedented in Lady Vol history. Not only that, but one of her two highly touted recruits has asked to be released from her National Letter of Intent. It is yet to be seen whether the other one will.

Some are pointing to NIL and money as the big offender, while others are blaming the transfer portal and the supposed ease of transferring. Others are saying that there was no "chemistry" on the team and claiming that players were just selfish, while still others, pointing to the recent firing of one assistant coach and the departure of another, are whispering that these assistants were undermining Kim's authority with the players.

I personally don't think it was any of the above. You see, I know a bit about Kim Caldwell's background and supposed "method", having seen her in action up here during her time as head coach at Marshall (her one year in D-I). Yes, her method worked in D-II, which was what persuaded Marshall to hire her. It probably would not have worked the next year, when coaches were onto her. It didn't work when JMU met her the second time (I know, I watched that game--JMU's coach is way smarter than she is, and also smart enough to stay where he is!) and obviously didn't work when SEC teams met her team the second time around. It also didn't work for her players at Tennessee, who were used to a far different style. She must not know how to coach any other way.

In any case, I thought it was a horrible mistake for Danny White, the AD, to fire Kellie Harper, who is an experienced coach at the D-I level and is now tasked with rebuilding at Missouri, a job I wouldn't even want, but she seems to be doing okay there. I thought it was an even worse mistake for him to hire Kim. I hope they are happy with each other. She seems poised to go with a bang next year if not this year. Don't know about him. Sad times for us Lady Vol fans. Even Holly Rowe said things about the situation last night.