AUSTIN, Texas — Tennessee women’s basketball coach Kim Caldwell missed the 17th-ranked Lady Volunteers’ 80-76 loss at No. 7 Texas on Thursday night after giving birth to a son this week.
Conor Scott Caldwell is the first child for Caldwell and her husband, Justin, who is the player development coordinator for the Tennessee men’s basketball program.
She and the baby are doing well, according to a Tennessee spokesman. No timetable was given for her return, and assistant Jenna Burdette is serving as the acting head coach in Caldwell’s absence.
Caldwell, 36, came to Tennessee last April from Marshall, which she took to the NCAA Division I tournament last year for the first time since 1997 in her only season at the school. She arrived at Tennessee with a 217-31 career record, having coached her alma mater Glenville State in her native West Virginia to the 2022 NCAA Division ll championship.
In a recent interview with The Associated Press, she spoke about how her pregnancy — announced Sept. 3 via social media — during her first year as head coach of the historic Lady Vols basketball program gives her a chance to help other working mothers not stress out or feel alone.