Lady Vols basketball coach Kim Caldwell made an appearance on the University of Tennessee's "Mike Keith Show" on April 23, marking her first public comments since the season ended in the first round of the Women's NCAA Tournament.
A lot has happened since then, including a complete roster overhaul and changes to Caldwell's staff.
"Everything happens so quick, and that's just what the transfer portal is," Caldwell told Mike Keith, who is the Voice of the Vols. "Things happen fast, you make quick decisions and you hit the ground running. And we've been pretty much running since the season has ended."
One of Caldwell's main focuses in the transfer portal was adding shooters to space the floor that they didn't have last season. They needed more high-percentage shooters that are hard to help off of last season, and that was a priority from the jump.
Forwards and point guards are harder to come by, Caldwell said, but their goal has been finding players who fit the style they want to play.
"You got to be willing to play fast, you got to be willing to play hard. You got to be willing to be willing to come in and work and want to win for Tennessee," Caldwell said. "And those are conversations we've had openly and pretty upfront with every player we brought in."
Caldwell changed her approach in the portal when making pitches to recruits during her third portal season with the Lady Vols. She said they almost tried to scare players away by telling them how hard they were going to work and how hard it was going to be.
"You have to really want to do this," Caldwell said. "I think it gets really easy to start to try to out-recruit people and sell, sell. We can do this for you. Tennessee can do this for you. It's an amazing brand. We kind of went the exact opposite this way, and said, No, you are here to help Tennessee. This is how hard it's going to be. You have to believe in yourself enough to want to do it."
Caldwell has already achieved a goal of bringing in more high-percentage 3-point shooters to space the floor, but personality fit matters just as much as basketball fit.
Keith asked Caldwell about the personalities of the players already brought in and she said there was one thing they all shared.
"I think the one thing that every player that we've signed so far has in common is they have a chip on their shoulder," Caldwell said. "They maybe had a different route to get here, which very much mirrors me, different route, something to prove. And I think they're all hungry to win."
When all eight of Tennessee's returners entered the transfer portal, five-star forward Oliviyah Edwards also requested her release from her signing. That left incoming freshman Gabby Minus as the only player on the roster.
"I think one person that maybe gets overlooked in all of this is Gabby, our freshman who stayed, and she was unwavering," Caldwell said.
Liberty guard Avery Mills was the first player to commit to Tennessee out of the transfer portal, and Mills "set the tone" of how the season should look and what type of player Caldwell wanted.
"She's hungry, she definitely has a dog mentality and is not afraid of anything," Caldwell said. "And she knew this is what she wanted. She believed in herself enough, she believed in us enough to cancel the rest of her visits and just jump right in."
Caldwell said they weren't aware of Irene Oboavwoduo, a 2026 prospect who originally signed with Boston College. She reopened her recruitment after the coaching change there, and she was "sent to us," Caldwell said.
Oboavwoduo is "a star over there" in Manchester, England, and Caldwell said they were excited to sign her.
"We got to watch her film. She came to campus. She was already over here, doing some visits, and so we got her on campus," Caldwell said. "Great family, great kid, very confident in herself. I think she's going to be able to help us."
Caldwell has added eight transfers so far, bringing the roster total to 10 with Minus and Iboavwoduo as incoming freshmen.
But Tennessee only has one player taller than 6-foot-2 in Harper Peterson, who's 6-3.