Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes is adding Justin Caldwell to his staff as its Player Development Coordinator, the Vols announced on Friday afternoon.
“We are pleased to add Justin to our staff here at Tennessee,” Barnes said in a statement. “He possesses a strong basketball mind and has shown the ability to develop young people. Justin’s passion and coaching acumen will assuredly assist our program on a daily basis.”
Caldwell is the husband of new Lady Vols head coach Kim Caldwell and comes to Tennessee with head coaching and assistant coaching experience that makes him more than qualified for the support staff role in the Vols’ program.
Caldwell spent last season as an assistant coach for the men’s program at Marshall after Kim became the head coach of the women’s program. Prior to that, Caldwell spent six seasons as the head coach at Division-II Glenville State where he turned his alma mater into a solid program.
The Vols’ new support staffer also served as an assistant coach at California (PA), Glenville State and Wyoming East High School.
More From RTI: Five-Star Recruits Officially Visited Tennessee Basketball Last Weekend
“I am thrilled to join the University of Tennessee men’s basketball staff,” Caldwell said in a statement. “It is a true privilege to work under someone like Rick Barnes, not only due to his immense success as a coach, but also because of who he is as a person. I cannot wait to get to work with this talented team and do all I can to help this excellent program continue its success.”
Assistant coach Bryan Lentz was previously Tennessee’s Director of Basketball operations and will still assume many of the same responsibilities since being promoted to an assistant coach role. Former graduate assistant Riley Collins was promoted to Assistant Director of Player Development earlier this summer and that trio will be a big part of the Vols’ player development program.
Expectations are high for Tennessee basketball coming off its SEC Regular-Season Championship and second ever run to the Elite Eight. The Vols lost a number of key players but return a handful of contributors and added a talented transfer class.
Tennessee opens up its 2024-25 season on Nov. 4 against Gardner Webb and also has non conference games scheduled against Louisville, Virginia, Baylor/St. John’s, Syracuse, Miami and Illinois.
