Sports

Once Powerhouse Tennessee Lady Vols Basketball Program Now Has Zero Players After Mass Exodus

#Women's College Basketball
by
Kim Caldwell / Tennessee Vols

© Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images


At one point in history, the Tennessee Lady Vols were the main foil for Geno Auriemma and the UConn Huskies in the women’s college basketball world. Legendary coach Pat Summitt built the Lady Vols into a powerhouse, winning eight national championships between 1987 and 2008.

But Summit sadly stepped away from the job in 2012 due to symptoms of early-onset dementia, and tragically passed away in 2016 at the age of just 64.

Since then, the program has struggled to recover, and now it seems to have reached a new low.

Summitt’s assistant, Holly Warlick, took over in 2012 and led the program to three Elite Eight appearances before being fired in 2019 after losing in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

Then Kellie Harper, a Tennessee alum, took over in 2019, but lasted just five seasons, failing to make it past the Sweet 16 in any of them.

In 2024, Kim Caldwell took over the job after just one year of Division I head coaching experience at Marshall, and it’s safe to say Caldwell has had a rough go of things.

The Tennessee Lady Vols Are Falling Apart Under Kim Caldwell

In Caldwell’s first season, the Lady Vols went 24-10 and reached the Sweet 16, which would be a solid season anywhere else, but fell far short of the standard set by Summitt.

This season, things got far worse. Tennessee went just 16-14, losing in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, and now it appears that there’s a mass exodus from the program.

The exits began with Kaiya Wynn, a fifth-year senior who spent her entire career in Knoxville. Wynn left the program after Caldwell did not play her a single second of Tennessee’s senior night game against Vanderbilt.

Since then, eight Lady Vols players: Deniya Prawl, Alyssa Latham, Kaniya Boyd, Lauren Hurst, Mia and Mya Pauldo, Talaysia Cooper, and Jaida Civil, have all announced their intent to enter the transfer portal.

Civil, who made her announcement on Monday, was a five-star recruit in the class of 2025 according to 247Sports’ composite rankings. She appeared in 30 games as a true freshman, starting 10 of them.

When you add the transfers to Wynn’s departure and four players set to graduate, Tennessee currently has zero players from its 2025-26 roster still on the team.

Where Tennessee turns from here is anyone’s guess. Does Caldwell return in 2026-27? If so, what does the roster look like, and can she turn things around?

But one thing is certain: the once-powerhouse program is suddenly in an absolutely dire situation.