It’s always great to see a West Virginia native get an opportunity to accomplish great things, and that’s exactly where Kim Stephens Caldwell finds herself.
The former women’s basketball coach at Glenville State University, where she starred and later coached the Pioneers to an NCAA Division II national championship, now finds herself on the “big stage,” becoming just the fourth coach in the modern history of the University of Tennessee program.
For those who don’t follow women’s sports, Tennessee was once the premier program under the legendary Pat Summit. The Lady Volunteers, or Lady Vols as their faithful call them, have won eight national championships and made every NCAA Tournament since 1982. That includes five national runner-up finishes and a total of 18 Final Four appearances.
Since Summitt’s death, the program has far from fallen on hard times by most expectations, but in Tennessee, the team hasn’t won enough, with two coaches losing their jobs despite having strong winning percentages.
The fact is the Lady Vols expect to play for national titles, and they haven’t been in the Elite Eight since 2016 or the Final Four since 2008.
Caldwell’s resume is full of success — the type of success Tennessee faithful have come to expect. The challenge for Caldwell is taking her fast-paced, all-havoc-breaks-loose system and making it work on the big-time level.
She stepped up her game this past season, moving from Glenville to Marshall, where she led the Herd to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 27 years after winning the Sun Belt Conference regular season and tournament titles.
Caldwell, who is a Parkersburg native, has shown the ability to recruit the types of players she needs to win — and to be able to coach them to success.
She has a five-year contract, which gives her some stability, but it is clear that Tennessee, whose last two coaches were former Lady Vols players with ties to Summitt, won’t hesitate to make changes.
Caldwell could have stayed at Marshall, but then again she could have stayed at Glenville for as long as she liked. But you have to admire her competitiveness and willingness to seize an opportunity.
We hope she makes the most of it and becomes the next great state native to win a national championship. The state has long been known for being a “cradle” of great football coaches like Nick Saban, Jimbo Fisher and Rich Rodriguez.
We hope Caldwell starts the trend in women’s basketball in her new position at Tennessee.
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