ESPN analyst slams Tennessee's Kim Caldwell over abandoning her team

Tennessee’s recent skid drew national attention Sunday when ESPN analyst Andraya Carter publicly challenged Lady Vols coach Kim Caldwell’s handling of her team’s struggles.

During a segment on College GameDay, Carter reacted to Caldwell’s blunt postgame remarks following a 43-point loss to South Carolina on Feb. 8. Caldwell criticized her players’ response to adversity, saying, “We just had a lot of quit in us tonight,” and later added the performance was “embarrassing.”

Carter said such comments can send the wrong message.

👀 ESPN's @Andraya_Carter Calls Out Kim Caldwell: "She has a lot of things to figure out" and the team "has no belief." "If you're a coach, you are required to figure out a system that fits your players. There's no amount of NIL money that can buy buy-in." 👀 #LadyVols #SEC pic.twitter.com/PEDlNjKv6w

“You should never say that your team has a lot of quit,” Carter said on the broadcast. “You never want to tell the fans that are watching and spending money to come watch your players that they’re quitting.”

Tennessee has dropped four of its last five games, not including a 30-point loss to No. 1 UConn to start out the month of February. Caldwell has wanted urgency, repeatedly saying the solution is simple to “Win your next game.”

Carter argued the issue goes beyond effort. She questioned whether the Lady Vols believe in their system, pointing to heavy reliance on 3-point shooting and aggressive trapping defense that can leave the team vulnerable in transition.

“When you’re struggling, you’ve got to believe in yourself, the system and the staff,” Carter said. “It doesn’t look like they know who to turn to.”

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Carter added that buy-in cannot be purchased or demanded. “There’s no amount of NIL money that can buy buy-in,” she said. “You have to create it collectively.”

The spotlight now turns to Caldwell as Tennessee searches for answers down the stretch of SEC play. They face three ranked opponent (No. 11 Oklahoma, No. 7 LSU and No. 5 Vanderbilt) to end the regular season. 

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