Tennessee coach Kim Caldwell said Kaiya Wynn’s decision to step away from the Lady Volunteers basketball program caught her off guard as the team prepares for postseason play.
“Kind of caught me off guard,” Caldwell said Tuesday when asked about Wynn informing her of the decision.
Caldwell said the program respects Wynn’s choice but is quickly turning its attention to the SEC Tournament.
“We’ll miss her,” Caldwell said. “She was loved in this program, and again, we respect her decision, but we kind of have to turn the page and focus on the SEC Tournament.”
Wynn confirmed on Tuesday that she stepped away from the program after describing Senior Day as a “breaking point.” The redshirt senior declined to check into the game with 15 seconds remaining in an eventual loss to Vanderbilt. The final regular season game inside Food City Center for the 2025-26 season.
When asked whether she had noticed any signs of issues leading up to Wynn’s decision, Caldwell said she did not see concerns beyond playing time.
“Not that I saw other than playing time,” Caldwell said.
Wynn played a total of 52 minutes across nine games this season.
The timing of Wynn’s departure comes as Tennessee prepares to leave for the SEC Tournament, where the Lady Vols enter as the No. 6 seed.
Caldwell said the team will need to rely on the same resilience it has shown throughout a season that has included several roster developments.
“I think we have been resilient all year,” Caldwell said. “This is just another situation where we’re going to have to continue to do that.”
Despite the challenge of losing a veteran presence, Caldwell said she expects leadership within the locker room to come from several players as the postseason begins.
“I think going forward it’ll be Alyssa (Latham) and Nya (Robertson),” Caldwell said. “They’re level-headed leaders. They tell the truth, they’re honest, and they have the team’s best interest at heart.”
Tennessee finished the regular season tied in the middle of the SEC standings and secured the No. 6 seed through conference tiebreakers.
Caldwell said the Lady Vols recently discussed how their schedule played a role in their final standing.
“We were the best of the 8–8 teams,” Caldwell said. “Our schedule was really backloaded, and we had to play them all at once. Now we’ll see how that built us and how that shaped us.”
The Lady Vols will open SEC Tournament play later this week before turning their attention to the NCAA Tournament.
“This is the best part,” Caldwell said. “This is when you’re a basketball player. This is what you play for.”
