Kim Caldwell’s third turn on the SEC media-day stage came with a different kind of satisfaction.
The Tennessee coach has now seen the event enough times to know the rhythm, the familiar faces and even the regular driver, but this trip to Birmingham, Alabama, was also about watching her players soak it in for the first time. Fifth-year guard Kaylene Smikle, a transfer from Maryland, and senior Rylie Theuerkauf, who came over from Georgia, made the trip with her for Tuesday’s opening day at Hotel Wildemont.
“I think every year is different, and you have different rosters, and you have different things,” Caldwell said. “I think every time you do this and until you come to SEC Media Day, you get a little more familiar There're familiar faces.
You recognize people, and we have the same driver every year. It's a fun place to be.”
For Caldwell, the best part now is seeing the event through her players’ eyes.
“This year is more about I'm excited to see the excitement on my players' faces from being here,” Caldwell said. “It's Rylie's first time at an SEC Media Day. So, getting to see her excitement and watching K.K. explain to her, because she's been to several (conference media days), of this is what it is, this is not what it is and to be able to prepare for that.
“That's really where my joy comes from now is seeing things through my players and seeing their excitement and watching them get to experience things like this because it really is awesome.”
The Lady Vols were on site for about three hours Tuesday, moving through a packed rotation that included main media, SiriusXM, SEC creative, the Pat Summitt Foundation, ESPN2, the SEC Network set, ESPN, NCAA social media and ESPN social.
Theuerkauf said Tennessee had long been the dream.
“Tennessee had a lot of reasons why I wanted to play here,” Theuerkauf said. “I mean, ever since a little kid, a little girl, that's where you dream of playing at is Tennessee.
All the history and everything with Pat Summitt. Then, just when I really got to meet Kim and come on the visit, I fell in love with her and her ideals and her program.
Yeah, it's been history ever since.”
Theuerkauf, who is from Tenafly, New Jersey, previously played at Wake Forest and then at Georgia before landing in Knoxville. Wake Forest also makes the trip to Knoxville for a closed scrimmage against the Lady Vols.
“I think it was really fun to play against someone new,” Theuerkauf said. “We played against the practice guys all summer, and playing against each other all summer, just to play a new team that had a scout on us and everything, it was a lot of fun.
“We brought so much energy, and I lost my voice. It was just a grand ole time, and you really learn how much we love to actually play with each other.”
That kind of response fits the identity Caldwell says her team is building. After overhauling the roster last April with help from her assistants, she brought in 13 transfers and another freshman, and the group has quickly taken on the tone she wanted: effort, flexibility and buy-in.
“The thing about this team is we have so many selfless players,” Caldwell said. “They want to get it right.
They want to play - they'll play with whoever. They'll play in whatever position.
They'll do whatever it takes to be on the floor, and they'll do whatever it takes to win, no matter how many minutes that is.
“That's really refreshing, and it's great to see out of this group.”
Smikle said the connection has shown up in the details.
“Our work ethic, our mentality towards things, just how we approach our every practice, our everyday,” Smikle said. “Just the little things I feel like has made us come together.”
Caldwell knows the challenge won’t get any easier once the season starts, especially in an SEC that keeps loading up with size and talent in the front court. She pointed to Aaliyah Moore, a 6-3 forward from Texas who missed the last 1.5 seasons because of injury; Fatmata “Fats” Janneh, a 6-2 forward from Texas A&M who scored and rebounded well against Tennessee last season; and Zhen Craft, a 6-2 forward who transferred from Georgia. Tennessee also has Harper Peterson, a 6-3 forward from Stanford, and Riley Makalusky, a 6-2 forward from West Virginia.
“It’s going to be a whole team effort to try to guard on the inside, and we know that our opponents, as the year goes on, are going to get bigger and stronger,” Caldwell said. “We're trying to get to that now of having it be ball pressure on the outside, back-side help, sending maybe multiple people to try to attack that because it's going to be hard for us to do one-on-one.”
Even so, Caldwell said the group has already set the tone in Knoxville. The program’s exhibition game is Oct. 27 at 6:30 p.m. against Florida A&M, and the home opener follows Nov. 2 against Duquesne at 6:30 p.m.
That culture, she said, started to take shape quickly in April, when the roster was built from the ground up around players who wanted the work.
“We wanted to recruit players that wanted to be in the gym and that wanted to get better,” Caldwell said. “They really do want to get better. They take pride in that, and they take pride in maybe getting on the floor with a coach a few minutes before practice, working on a countermove and then putting that together in practice and then putting that on display.
“It’s been infectious. We have leaders that will bring players into the gym with them so that it's every single person … that's the standard.”
Caldwell added, “They love to be in the gym so much, and it's such a special place right now because if you show up to practice 30 minutes early in our gym, you don't get a basket. The baskets are full. There's already a player in there shooting, getting work.”
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