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Safe to say, Kim (Stephens) Caldwell never dunked a basketball during her playing career.
Coaching career, different story.
This past Tuesday during a press conference introducing the Parkersburg South High School graduate as the new women's basketball coach at the University of Tennessee, the final question posed by the media was answered with a simple reply that resulted in a slam dunk by Caldwell.
The gist of the question asked if her coaching style could translate to the Southeastern Conference. The journalist surely had notions of testing Caldwell's confidence level as she looks to compete with the South Carolinas and LSUs as well as the national scene.
Nano seconds passed as Caldwell firmly replied, "I wouldn't be here if I didn't think we could do it here."
End of answer. Press conference over. Day 1 on the job complete with Caldwell firmly entrenched as the Vols' head coach.
Since the inception of the UT program, only two other women have followed the legacy left behind by the heralded Pat Summit. Holly Warwick took UT to three Elite Eights, while Kellie Harper produced a record of 108-52 in five seasons before the school pulled the plug on her.
With a search committee in place, only a week passed before they were thoroughly convinced with bringing Caldwell and her blistering pace of basketball on board.
"As a university we are good, but we want to be great," said UT athletic director Dr. Danny White. "As a women's basketball program, we want to get back competing for the SEC and national championships. Our student-athletes have that ambition.
"We are not on a three-year, four-year or five-year plan. We are making sure we are positioning that we are competitive right away."
The skeptics may point out Caldwell's one-year experience as a head coach at the Division I level with Marshall University this past season. Perhaps, Rocky Top wanted one of their own.
Caldwell spent several years as an assistant coach at Sacramento State before returning to West Virginia and taking over as head coach at her alma mater Glenville State University with her father, the late Scott Stephens, by her side as assistant coach.
"When I was younger, I loved basketball and wanted to play as long as I could," Caldwell said. "Being a 5-10 post player, I knew there was nothing for me after college. I knew coaching was the route I needed to take.
"My dad coached me all the way from elementary. I saw his passion and how hard he worked, and that's exactly what I wanted to be. I wanted to be like him and that's the reason I got into coaching. He taught me how to be a leader without ever saying a word."
Two years ago, Caldwell led GSU to the NCAA Division II national title. This past season at Marshall, the Thundering Herd earned the program's second NCAA tournament berth and first since 1997. Despite losing to Virginia Tech in the first round, Caldwell was recognized with the 2024 Maggie Dixon NCAA Division I Rookie Coach of the Year award as Marshall finished 26-7.
"During the search process, a prerequisite for me was how this person was going to bring us back to the top," Dr. White said. "I was not looking for a possible solution to get back to being more relevant. I wanted someone with an enormous upside and trajectory.
"Interviews do matter, and everyone on our committee who was there said there was one interview which stood out among the rest - and in a significant way. (Caldwell's) style of play is very compelling and it resonates with our current players. It's a compelling style of play for our fans. In short, we will have the fastest style of basketball in the country."
Caldwell, who has a winning percentage of 87.5% (217-31) in eight seasons as a head coach, is taking a crash course on the history of women's basketball at UT - from the foundation set by the late Pat Summitt to having conversations with past and current players.
At the press conference, she mentioned how the hiring at such an illustrious program has not quite clicked yet. On occasion, she has to remind herself this is real.
In 50 seasons of women's basketball at UT, Caldwell's hiring marks only the fourth head coach during that span.
"Pat Summit changed the game of basketball and wouldn't she love to see where the game is now," Caldwell said. "I will never be Pat Summit. Nobody can. But I will strive every day to be someone she would be proud of."
Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com