Kim Caldwell details assembling Tennessee’s 2026-27 basketball roster

Thirteen players transferred to Tennessee following the 2025-26 basketball season.

Led by third-year head coach Kim Caldwell, the Lady Vols will have 13 transfers and two high school players on their 2026-27 roster.

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“We have to do this as quickly as possible,” Caldwell said of assembling Tennessee’s roster. “I’m really pleased with the job we’ve done over three weeks. We want to make sure we build our roster in a way that balances each other out, and we have guys that can fit into a variety of roles and can shoot the ball.

“Above all, we wanted to recruit people who had heart, people who wanted to work hard and people who knew what was at stake. We really tried to make them understand in our visits how difficult it was going to be and see if they could rise to the challenge, and they did.”

More: 2026-27 Lady Vols Basketball Roster

The Lady Vols received Harissoum Coulibaly (Auburn), Zhen Craft (Georgia), Jada Eads (Seton Hall), Kennedy Fauntleroy (ECU), Fatmata Janneh (Texas A&M), Riley Makalusky (West Virginia), Avery Mills (Liberty), Aaliyah Moore (Texas), Harper Peterson (Stanford), Kayne Smikle of transfer commits (Maryland), Shaelyn Steele (Penn State), Rylie Theuerkauf (Georgia) and Naomi White (Northern Arizona).

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Gabby Minus and Irene Oboavwoduo will also be freshmen at Tennessee in their third season at Caldwell.

“I think obviously what we’re after is production and production players, and obviously as you move up the level, some things translate better,” Caldwell said. “When you look at three-point shots, the three-point line doesn’t move back. You obviously look at film, numbers and statistics across the board.”

More: Everything Kim Caldwell had to say about her second season at Tennessee

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This article originally appeared on Vols Wire: Kim Caldwell breaks down Lady Vols’ 2026-27 basketball roster