The latest with Lady Vols basketball staff, roster changes under Kim Caldwell

The Lady Vols basketball is searching for an assistant coach and currently has one returning player on the roster.

Coach Kim Caldwell cut loose two assistant coaches in Gabe Lazo and Roman Tubner, while three more players entered the transfer portal. Jaida Civil is currently the only roster member. The Lady Vols do have two signees in 5-star Oliviyah Edwards and wing Gabby Minus, who will graduate from high school next month. 

Tennessee AD Danny White has made it clear he has full confidence in Caldwell, who will be entering her third season next fall. Caldwell has compiled a 40-24 record in her first two seasons. Her first team went to the Sweet 16. The returning team paired with a top-5 recruiting class buoyed this year’s team to a preseason top 10 ranking.

The success never materialized as they closed the season with eight straight losses. Since a season-ending NCAA Tournament loss, there have been massive defections from the roster as the portal opens on Tuesday and Caldwell has made changes on her staff. 

Here is what happened this week:

Gabe Lazo and Kim Caldwell part ways; Lazo lands in Baton Rouge

Caldwell and Lazo parted ways after two seasons Monday following his resignation Friday. Lazo landed on Kim Mulkey’s staff at LSU on Tuesday.

Lazo’s biggest impact with the Lady Vols was on the recruiting trail. He had a huge hand in assembling Caldwell’s first recruiting class featuring the Pauldo twins, Civil, Deniya Prawl and Lauren Hurst.

Lazo was also the lead recruiter in Tennessee’s efforts to land Washington. The Washington native picked the Vols over South Carolina, LSU, USC and Washington. 

Tennessee also signed Minus from Georgia, giving the program back to back top-10 recruiting classes. 

Lazo was also key in Tennessee’s portal class, which was deemed the number one portal class in the country by several services. 

With Lazo out, Bill Ferrara enters from Florida State

Caldwell filled Lazo’s spot immediately by hiring Bill Ferrara an as assistant coach Monday.

“I am pleased to welcome Bill to our staff,” Caldwell said in a school release. “He has played an instrumental role in Florida State’s high-scoring offense and three-point shooting over the past four seasons. We look forward to adding his technical knowledge, experience and recruiting abilities to our program.”

Ferrara spent the past four seasons at Florida State, where he held the title of associate head coach. He also has coached at Central Michigan, Hofstra, George Washington, Florida, New Mexico and St. John’s.

Tayalsia Cooper enters the transfer portal

Caldwell’s program saw three more roster departures this week, including leading scorer Talaysia Cooper who announced on Thursday morning she was entering the portal for her final year of eligibility. 

“Being a Lady Vol has meant more to me than I can fully put into words,” Cooper wrote in Instagram. “I’ve grown a lot on and off the court, and I’ll always be grateful for the relationships and experiences I’ve gained here. After a lot of thought and prayer, I’ve decided to enter the transfer portal to continue my journey. This decision wasn’t easy at all, but I’m trusting what’s best for me moving forward. I will always have love and respect for Tennessee and everything this program stands for. Thank you for everything.”

Cooper was benched for the last 16 minutes of the Lady Vols SEC Tournament loss to Alabama for what Caldwell called a coach’s decision. Cooper later said she didn’t know why she didn’t play down the stretch. 

Cooper has been the Lady Vols’ most prolific player by the stat sheet in the Caldwell era. This season, she led the team in scoring with 16.0 points per game. The led the team in assists with 100 and steals with 73. She averaged 16.6 points per game and had 105 steals in her first year in Caldwell’s system in 2024-25.

Mia Pauldo, Mya Pauldo enter transfer portal to leave Lady Vols

On Wednesday, freshman guards Mia and Mya Pauldo announced via social media that they were departing the program.

“After much thought, conversation & soul-searching we have decided to enter the transfer portal,” they wrote. “We’d like to thank the coaching staff for the opportunity to be part of the Lady Vols family. Thank you to our teammates whom we’ve formed a sisterhood with. Thank you fans for your energy and support. Excited to accept the challenge of the next phase of our journey.”

Mia Pauldo was named to SEC all-freshman team as she averaged 10.4 points, 2.5 assists in 23.4 minutes per game. Pauldo started 17 games this season.

Mya Pauldo averaged 1.8 points in 10.1 minutes per game. She made one start this season.

The three departures bring the Lady Vols’ total to seven roster members entering the transfer portal. When the portal opens Tuesday, Tennessee is expected to start hosting transfer prospects quickly. Track all the roster moves with Volquest’s transfer tracker

Roman Tubner fired as assistant coach

Tubner was fired Thursday after two seasons as an assistant coach.

“I want to thank Coach Tubner for his contributions to our program during the past two seasons,” Caldwell said in a statement. “We wish him the very best moving forward.”

Tubner was hired away from Alabama to join Caldwell at Tennessee as Caldwell sought SEC experience on her initial staff to help her with scouting as well as recruiting at the SEC level.