Lady Vols basketball coach Kim Caldwell announced Thursday that she gave birth to a baby boy named Conor Scott Caldwell.
“Mom, dad and baby are doing well,” said a post on Tennessee social media accounts.
Caldwell, who is in her first season coaching Tennessee, announced she was pregnant with her first child in September. She did not miss any games leading up to the birth, coaching the Lady Vols in the loss at Vanderbilt on Sunday.
No. 15 Tennessee (15-3, 3-3 SEC) plays No. 7 Texas (17-2, 4-1) at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, on Thursday (9 p.m. ET, SEC Network).
There’s a possibility Caldwell will miss multiple games, depending on how the delivery went. Assistant coach Jenna Burdette is coaching the Lady Vols at Texas. Burdette coached with Caldwell at both her previous stops, starting at Glenville State in 2018-20.
This is the first child for Caldwell, 36, and her husband, Justin, who is the player development coordinator for Tennessee men’s basketball.
Caldwell and Justin were both seniors on the women’s and men’s basketball teams at Glenville State in 2010-11, which was Justin’s only season with the Pioneers. Caldwell’s tenure as the Glenville State women’s basketball coach from 2016-23 also overlapped with Justin’s five years as the Glenville State men’s basketball coach from 2018-23. The couple got married in May 2023.
Caldwell’s mother, Linda Stephens, will live in Knoxville to help take care of Caldwell’s child through the end of the season.
In her first season, Caldwell led the Lady Vols to a 13-0 start, their best start to a season since going 15-0 in 2017-18. Caldwell was hired to replace Kellie Harper in April.
The team has been supportive of Caldwell’s pregnancy. Her players threw a baby shower for her in preseason, and they have been vocally supportive of Caldwell and expressed their excitement for the baby’s arrival.
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Caldwell isn’t the first Tennessee coach to be pregnant and give birth during her first season in Knoxville. Volleyball coach Eve Rackham Watt was pregnant during her first season and gave birth to her son in November 2018.
Tennessee has long been supportive of coaches who have children, including Pat Summitt, who gave birth to her son, Tyler, in 1990. Most recently, women’s tennis coach Alison Ojeda led the Lady Vols to the NCAA Tournament semifinals while 36 weeks pregnant. Ojeda gave birth to her son, Marcus, in July.
Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her at cora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on Twitter @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Kim Caldwell’s baby is a boy. Birth announcement from Lady Vols coach
