Advertisement

Tennessee head coach Kim Caldwell has given birth to a son, misses matchup against No. 7 Texas

Caldwell, who is in her first season with the team, has coached the No. 17 Lady Vols to a 15-3 record while pregnant

NASHVILLE, TN - JANUARY 19: Tennessee Lady Vols head coach Kim Caldwell  during a game between the Vanderbilt Commodores and Tennessee Lady Vols, January 19, 2025 at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Matthew Maxey/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Tennessee head coach Kim Caldwell's last game before giving birth was the Lady Vols' narrow loss to Vanderbilt on Sunday. (Photo by Matthew Maxey/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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 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 a combined three points.

Tennessee's third loss was to unranked Vanderbilt on Sunday, where the Lady Vols lost by one point yet Caldwell coached Sunday's game in her last appearance before giving birth.

In their first game without Caldwell, the Lady Vols fell just short again in a four-point loss to the Longhorns. And the team has a tough schedule still to come: Tennessee's remaining games include matchups against No. 2 South Carolina, No. 6 UConn and another game against the Tigers.