For the SEC to get through 16 schools, with women’s and men’s basketball programs for each one, in two days in Birmingham, the head coaches are limited to picking two players to make the trip, too.

Coach Kim Caldwell chose Kaylene Smikle, who transferred to Tennessee from Maryland, and Rylie Theuerkauf, who played last season at Georgia.

“If I could bring our whole team, we would be 15 deep right here, having a great time,” Caldwell said. “And you would get to know them, and you would get to love them, and you would see why we are so close because it would be as loud as it could be. It would be chaotic. They would be laughing and joking, and it would be a great time.”

A portion of the clip on the SEC Network can be watched HERE. Caldwell’s full session in the main media room can be watched HERE.

Theuerkauf’s voice is hoarse on the SEC Network clip. The Lady Vols hosted Wake Forest for a closed scrimmage Monday, the day before flying to Alabama for Tennessee’s turn in the SEC media event, and Theuerkauf sacrificed her vocal cords.

“We brought so much energy, and I lost my voice,” Theuerkauf said. “It was just a grand ole time, and you really learn how much we love to actually play with each other.”

Kaylene Smikle and Rylie Theuerkauf (Tennessee Athletics)

Zhen Craft, who also transferred to Tennessee from Georgia, already knew Theuerkauf as a teammate. No one else knew each other until they arrived last June.

“It was so much fun to meet everybody,” Theuerkauf said. “We honestly clicked right away. We clicked so fast. A lot of hard things we do, we have to do it together. … We’re always competing against each other since the day we got here. We were playing one-on-one, two-on-two, three-on-three, and we’ve learned to be competitors.

“I think that’s what’s brought us through it together. We know how hard it is and to compete against one another every single day has made us better, and honestly, has made us love each other.”

Players and coaches talked all summer about how quickly they bonded. That is not unusual for all teams to say that. Apparently, it’s not hyperbole with this crew.

“I think it was just the little things,” Smikle said. “We would hang out in Riley’s room on Fridays. It didn’t have to be anything big. We all built chemistry so fast. Got to know each other. We spoke about our experiences, and I think that’s what helped us bond.”

Kaylene Smikle and Rylie Theuerkauf show the Pat Summitt patches on their uniforms. (Tennessee Athletics)

Smikle is a fifth-year guard from Bay Shore, New York, who wants to play in the WNBA and listened to Tennessee’s plan about how to get her ready for the next level. She also appreciated Caldwell’s honesty about hard summer workouts would be.

“Everyone left their schools for different reasons,” Smikle said before preseason practice started last month. “You’re leaving with a chip on your shoulder, wanting to go into a new program, wanting better things.

“I feel like everybody on this team has a chip on their shoulder of maybe they got doubted in the past, didn’t get something they wanted. So, I just feel like everyone having that hunger makes us all want to be hungry together and give it our all every single day.”

Smikle and Theuerkauf also are expected to show leadership for the youngsters. Aaliyah Moore, a fifth-year player who transferred from Texas after missing the last 1.5 seasons due to injury, has become the team mother and also provides insight about the toughness of the SEC. Caldwell has readily identified leaders among her newcomers and it helps that the players have been so receptive to the coaches and each other.

“I think these two are vets,” Caldwell said about the pair of players who flew to Birmingham with her. “I think they are winners. They show up and they compete every single day, and I think that they bring people with them with their competitiveness, and it’s not about them as individuals. It’s not about K.K. It’s not about Riley. They want to win, and they show that and they display that daily. But again, if I could bring them all, I would have brought them all.”

One side note about SEC Tipoff ’27 as it was officially called. Only 15 teams actually made it to Birmingham.

Heavy fog prevented LSU’s coaches, Kim Mulkey and Will Wade, and their players from leaving Baton Rouge on Tuesday, so they participated via Zoom. Ironically, the SEC is suing LSU in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama over LSU trying to add former NFL players who had signed professional contracts and returned to college. LSU dropped those efforts in September but on Tuesday in court, the SEC argued the case should continue because LSU is trying to add a player who had previously signed multiple two-way NBA contracts and is currently practicing with the Tigers. For now, fog won.

The media picked Tennessee to finish eighth in the SEC and that seems fair given the limited body of knowledge about the team. A coaches’ prediction poll is usually released at the SEC event, but it hasn’t materialized yet. The SEC is a gauntlet in women’s hoops. Once again, Tennessee will play every Final Four team – South Carolina and Texas in the SEC and UCLA and UConn in non-conference play.

Last season, Caldwell didn’t play the full style she preferred because the team, while talented, didn’t have enough players suited to execute it. She does now. That doesn’t mean sudden success in 2026-27, as it’s an adjustment to learn and the SEC is deep. But it should mean fans won’t be as bewildered as they were last February when Tennessee went into a tailspin and never got out of it.

“This is as much my culture as I’ve had in three or four years,” said Caldwell, who is entering year three at Tennessee after just one season at Marshall after she led Division II Glenville State to a national title. “And when people say that you look good, you feel good. I mean, when you jump the way that I’ve jumped around and moved around, it takes some time to get your culture set, and with this group of players, I think that we nailed it.”

As April started last spring, the Lady Vols had a 2026-27 roster of one in Gabby Minus, who committed and signed last fall, stayed with her decision and is now a freshman at Tennessee. In three weeks, Caldwell and her staff had a roster of 15 despite trying to warn every recruit who visited how hard it would be.

“Conditioning-wise, we’ve definitely earned our conditioning,” Smikle said. “We can run. I’m in the best shape of my life right now.”

Coach Kim Caldwell
(Todd Van Emst/SEC)

Caldwell spent just one season at Marshall because Tennessee came calling – and that call comes just once in a lifetime. As Caldwell has said, was it crazier to take the job or not take it?

She has intentionally reached out to more former Lady Vols players and staff members like Debby Jennings to talk to the team. When she needed to hire two new assistant coaches last spring, she added Brian Ferrara from Florida State, who she has known for years, and Isoken “Coach Eas” Uzamere, who became available when Georgia went in a different direction at head coach.

Caldwell now has a network of people she can reach out to for advice or just a conversation about hoops. She also took the recruiting reins and made it clear to the new coaches the type of player she needs to run the system.

One of the first things Ferrara told her before he was hired was to drop the Lamborghinis positioned on the court for recruiting visits and get back to blue-collar recruits who also had talent.

“I think I was in a state in my career where I had to really go back to who I was as a Division II head coach and really set the standard of what it is and not get caught up in the outside noise and do what I believe is true and do what got me here,” Caldwell said. “But then you have to continue to grow and evolve and learn new things and study the game and lean on people.

“I have such a big circle now, and I have a lot of people that I can call for advice that I can’t even imagine that they’re in my phone book. Leaning on people that can help me but also going with my gut of, again, what got me here.”

SATURDAY OPEN SCRIMMAGE

For fans who are already on campus Saturday for the Tennessee vs. Alabama football game or don’t mind walking a bit – the parking lots are all for passholders – the Lady Vols will hold a scrimmage that is open to the public at Food City Center at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Officially called the Axle All-Access practice, gates will open at 9:30 a.m. with a scrimmage against the male practice players set for tipoff at 10 a.m., well before kickoff at 3:30 p.m.

Fans should enter the arena through Gates C and D. Admission is free, and fans are encouraged to sit in Sections 103, 104, 105, 106 and 107. Concession stands will be closed. Select Lady Vols players will hold a 30-minute autograph session after the scrimmage from approximately 12-12:30 p.m.

Maria M. Cornelius 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 and a 10th anniversary edition was released June 16, 2026. A third book, “The Legacy of Pat Summitt” will be released Nov. 17, 2026.

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Maria M. Cornelius 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 and a 10th anniversary edition was released June 16, 2026. A third book, “The Legacy of Pat Summitt” will be released Nov. 17, 2026.