The Lady Vols will take the court for the first time under new coach Kim Caldwell on Halloween evening. While the matchup with Carson-Newman will be an exhibition game that doesn’t count, it will be the first chance for fans to see the team.

Tip time is set for 6:30 p.m. next Thursday, Oct. 31, at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.

“The vibes are really high right now,” said Jewel Spear, senior guard who returned to Tennessee for a fifth and final year. “We have good chemistry, even though we have a number of transfers and newcomers. I think we are doing a really good job at gelling off the court, and it’s really transferring to on the court.”

Tennessee held its media day this week, and the team’s vibe is loose with a lot of laughter. While the practices are intense – one player joked that the team could compete in track at this point due to the amount of running – the camaraderie was noticeable.

Media day also revealed in the video below who was behind the Lamborghinis that showed up on the court during a big recruiting weekend for the Lady Vols in October.

Caldwell is installing a fast pace of play – thus all the running – with a pressing defense and frequent substitutions. That means players are learning new roles and responsibilities on the court. Fans shouldn’t expect to see players walking the ball up the court on offense and dropping back into a half-court defense.

“They’re coming into their own roles, which is something that also takes time in this style of play,” Caldwell said. “We take people when traditional basketball puts you in a box, you’re a four (power forward), you’re a driver, you’re a shooter, and we’re trying to get you out of that box, and we’re trying to get you to do something that you haven’t been doing.

“I’ve seen them come into their roles more and more the last two to three weeks and it’s made our team better.”

Caldwell also warned that Halloween night might not be pretty – along with other November games – as the team adjusts to the pace and pressure. That could lead to more foul calls or turnovers. But she also indicated it always gets better as the season progresses.

Kaiya Wynn handles an interview at media day. (Kate Luffman/ Tennessee Athletics)

“We are in really good shape and have a lot of people who can do a lot of different things versatility-wise,” senior guard Kaiya Wynn said. “I think all 15 of us really love the game of basketball, so it makes the hard things we go through easier.”

Wynn has the potential to thrive in this system. A former high school track star and state champion, Wynn has the speed and quickness to play Caldwell’s style. She also is one of the team’s best one-on-one defenders. But she tore her right Achilles last week and will have surgery and miss the season. Wynn will seek a redshirt year from the NCAA to be able to play in 2025-26.

Despite her injury and true to her personality, Wynn was all smiles on media day and used her scooter to interact with teammates. She also served as Spear’s stand-in for a player interview. When her playing days are over, Spear wants to be a sports broadcaster.

“She was heartbroken on the day it happened,” Caldwell said. “We talked about it. I talked to her mom about it, that God has a plan that we don’t really understand right now, and we can’t see. The three of us talked on FaceTime about that, and who she is as a person. She’s going to make jokes. She’s going to make people laugh. She’s always going to bring something positive to the table. That’s just who she is.”

Tennessee will benefit from the availability of Talaysia Cooper and Kaniya Boyd. Cooper sat out last season after transferring from South Carolina outside of the portal window and has three years of eligibility remaining. Boyd graduated early from high school and enrolled for the spring semester to recover from a knee injury. She has four years of eligibility.

Both are built for Caldwell’s system with speed, the ability to score and a knack for defense. Caldwell also added help from the portal in Rapuluchi “Favor” Ayodele from Pitt; Alyssa Lathan from Syracuse; Zee Spearman from Miami; Samara Spencer from Arkansas; and Ruby Whitehorn from Clemson. The five also have the ability to play in the system from speed to shooting ability.

It’s been a summer and fall of practice, strength and conditioning. The players and coaches are ready for actual games even if the Halloween one doesn’t count. The season opener is Nov. 5 against Samford in Knoxville.

“We’ve been really spending a lot of time laying the foundation of pace on defense and offense,” Caldwell said. “But now we just need to get into the final little details of things.”

Maria M. Cornelius, a senior writer/editor at MoxCar Marketing + Communications since 2013, started her journalism career at the Knoxville News Sentinel and began writing about the Lady Vols in 1998. In 2016, she published her first book, “The Final Season: The Perseverance of Pat Summitt,” through The University of Tennessee Press.