University of Tennessee Athletics
October 30, 2026 | Women's Basketball
When guard/forward Gabby Minus first arrived in Knoxville in mid-June, she was the only freshman Lady Vol basketball player on campus at the time. As it turned out, she was not alone for long.
Minus wasted no time meeting the rest of her teammates who were already living in Knoxville. That same day, she joined her new UT basketball sisters at an apartment complex pool, instantly planting the team's bonding seed.
"As soon as I got here, the people who were here before me welcomed me in full-on," Minus said. "That was really cool. I was just happy to be there."
The bonding was just getting started. Over the course of the summer, the team spent nearly all of its time hanging out as a group, including swimming at the quarry, dining at new restaurants around town and even little activities like lounging at an apartment together. If there was something to do, they did it together.
"We just do everything we can together," senior guard Rylie Theuerkauf said. "We don't get bored of each other."
These summer traditions stayed on track as summer transitioned into the start of the fall semester.
For Theuerkauf, a post-workout "Taco Tuesday" still stands out as one of her favorite team activities.
"We'll be in the gym for six hours a day, and then we'll go get food [together]," Theuerkauf said. "Every Tuesday is Taco Tuesday. We just do little things, always together."
For Minus, freshman bonding means discovering campus with fellow college-newcomer Irene Oboavwoduo, a guard from London, England.
"One thing I'm doing now is taking adventures around campus on my scooter with Irene, since we're the only two [Lady Vol basketball] freshmen on campus," Minus said. "We just explore and ride around. We see what's going on around campus."
As much as the team spends time as a group off the court, a crucial part of their togetherness ahead of the season forms on the court.
This year's Lady Vol basketball team features an entirely new roster of players who arrived at Tennessee from programs around the nation. Getting familiar with new faces is an annual tradition in collegiate athletics, but this year's introduction of teammates presents a unique opportunity.
Coach Kim Caldwell and her staff carefully selected all 15 members of the squad for the specific features they all shared, including their competitive nature, level of commitment, willingness to be coached and fit into the desired culture for the team. Caldwell acknowledged with players before they committed that this year was going to be her most hands-on and demanding year of coaching yet. It's an opportunity the team embraced head-on and is using to grow closer as a group.
"Her plan for this year is to be the hardest year that she's ever coached," junior guard Naomi White said. "She wants us to be better, do better. Not even just [in] basketball, but as people too."
White is not the only one excited at the prospect of getting better. The new season presents new challenges for all players, but it is something that they understand is meant to mold them and help them grow as individuals and as teammates.
"A lot of us came in here, and we've never had to run as much as we have, or do some of the things that Kim has asked us to do," Theuerkauf said.
The team's challenging workouts are pushing the players as individuals, but they also have become a rallying cry for the group as a whole.
"At first, we were like, 'okay, let's do it every day, but we have to always stick with each other,'" Theuerkauf said. "No matter how hard it got, we were all next to each other, and we were like, 'let's do it for the person next to you.'"
Fifth-year guard Kaylene Smikle, a member of the Cheryl Miller Award Small Forward of the Year Preseason Watch List, agrees that sharing the challenge is something that helps the players grow stronger as a unit.
"I think we've taken the challenge head- on," she said. "Every challenge that we've faced, even if it's hard, we've gone through it together."
It is not just the challenge itself, but it is sharing the struggle of doing something hard for a shared goal bigger than any individual on the team that helps form the group's identity.
"We all understand that we're going to be tired or we're going to be uncomfortable, but learning to be uncomfortable together makes us stronger," Smikle added.
The hard work is a reflection of the players' belief in themselves and each other. They are not going to shy away from a challenge and are willing to do difficult things to win together. The same is true outside of basketball.
"I feel like [Caldwell] is trying to teach life skills as well, just knowing how to work hard," Theuerkauf said. "Not everything's going to be given to you."
Minus reflected those sentiments.
"She really wants us to be tough," she said. "Life is going to get hard after basketball, and it's hard in general. She wants us to be tough, and you really learn that here on the court."
To prepare her players for life after basketball, Caldwell has set up "life skills" classes for the team to take. Every Wednesday afternoon, the group comes together and learns new lessons to apply to life off the court.
"We've had talks about how to have healthier relationships and better mental health, things like that," Minus said. "[Caldwell] doesn't only care about you on the court. She wants you to be a well-rounded person."
As a result of all the team's hard work and perseverance together, a strong sense of trust lies between every member of the team and staff.
"No matter what, I can call anybody on the team, and I know that they'll be there for me," Smikle said. "I think just the people around the program, you trust and know that they want the best for you, and they want to see you succeed."
This trust has helped players find a community and even a new home at Tennessee.
"We're very close off the court as well," White said. "Everyone's friendly. Everybody understands each other. I would definitely say this is a home away from home."
With every early morning workout, late-night hangout and everything in between, Theuerkauf knows this team is bigger than herself and will have a lasting impact on every individual.
"We're becoming a sisterhood," she said.
And for a program known for its historic accomplishments and a proud tradition of producing Lady Vols for life, that bonding process is right on target with what helped Tennessee amass the most wins in women's basketball history and appear in a record 44-consecutive NCAA Tournaments.
Caldwell's squad takes its first steps in pursuit of a 45th postseason berth on Monday, as Tennessee plays host to Duquesne at Food City Center. Tip-off is slated for 6:30 p.m. ET., with tickets on sale at AllVols.com and the game available for live streaming on SECN+.
Minus wasted no time meeting the rest of her teammates who were already living in Knoxville. That same day, she joined her new UT basketball sisters at an apartment complex pool, instantly planting the team's bonding seed.
"As soon as I got here, the people who were here before me welcomed me in full-on," Minus said. "That was really cool. I was just happy to be there."
The bonding was just getting started. Over the course of the summer, the team spent nearly all of its time hanging out as a group, including swimming at the quarry, dining at new restaurants around town and even little activities like lounging at an apartment together. If there was something to do, they did it together.
"We just do everything we can together," senior guard Rylie Theuerkauf said. "We don't get bored of each other."
These summer traditions stayed on track as summer transitioned into the start of the fall semester.
For Theuerkauf, a post-workout "Taco Tuesday" still stands out as one of her favorite team activities.
"We'll be in the gym for six hours a day, and then we'll go get food [together]," Theuerkauf said. "Every Tuesday is Taco Tuesday. We just do little things, always together."
For Minus, freshman bonding means discovering campus with fellow college-newcomer Irene Oboavwoduo, a guard from London, England.
"One thing I'm doing now is taking adventures around campus on my scooter with Irene, since we're the only two [Lady Vol basketball] freshmen on campus," Minus said. "We just explore and ride around. We see what's going on around campus."
As much as the team spends time as a group off the court, a crucial part of their togetherness ahead of the season forms on the court.
This year's Lady Vol basketball team features an entirely new roster of players who arrived at Tennessee from programs around the nation. Getting familiar with new faces is an annual tradition in collegiate athletics, but this year's introduction of teammates presents a unique opportunity.
Coach Kim Caldwell and her staff carefully selected all 15 members of the squad for the specific features they all shared, including their competitive nature, level of commitment, willingness to be coached and fit into the desired culture for the team. Caldwell acknowledged with players before they committed that this year was going to be her most hands-on and demanding year of coaching yet. It's an opportunity the team embraced head-on and is using to grow closer as a group.
"Her plan for this year is to be the hardest year that she's ever coached," junior guard Naomi White said. "She wants us to be better, do better. Not even just [in] basketball, but as people too."
White is not the only one excited at the prospect of getting better. The new season presents new challenges for all players, but it is something that they understand is meant to mold them and help them grow as individuals and as teammates.
"A lot of us came in here, and we've never had to run as much as we have, or do some of the things that Kim has asked us to do," Theuerkauf said.
The team's challenging workouts are pushing the players as individuals, but they also have become a rallying cry for the group as a whole.
"At first, we were like, 'okay, let's do it every day, but we have to always stick with each other,'" Theuerkauf said. "No matter how hard it got, we were all next to each other, and we were like, 'let's do it for the person next to you.'"
Fifth-year guard Kaylene Smikle, a member of the Cheryl Miller Award Small Forward of the Year Preseason Watch List, agrees that sharing the challenge is something that helps the players grow stronger as a unit.
"I think we've taken the challenge head- on," she said. "Every challenge that we've faced, even if it's hard, we've gone through it together."
It is not just the challenge itself, but it is sharing the struggle of doing something hard for a shared goal bigger than any individual on the team that helps form the group's identity.
"We all understand that we're going to be tired or we're going to be uncomfortable, but learning to be uncomfortable together makes us stronger," Smikle added.
The hard work is a reflection of the players' belief in themselves and each other. They are not going to shy away from a challenge and are willing to do difficult things to win together. The same is true outside of basketball.
"I feel like [Caldwell] is trying to teach life skills as well, just knowing how to work hard," Theuerkauf said. "Not everything's going to be given to you."
Minus reflected those sentiments.
"She really wants us to be tough," she said. "Life is going to get hard after basketball, and it's hard in general. She wants us to be tough, and you really learn that here on the court."
To prepare her players for life after basketball, Caldwell has set up "life skills" classes for the team to take. Every Wednesday afternoon, the group comes together and learns new lessons to apply to life off the court.
"We've had talks about how to have healthier relationships and better mental health, things like that," Minus said. "[Caldwell] doesn't only care about you on the court. She wants you to be a well-rounded person."
As a result of all the team's hard work and perseverance together, a strong sense of trust lies between every member of the team and staff.
"No matter what, I can call anybody on the team, and I know that they'll be there for me," Smikle said. "I think just the people around the program, you trust and know that they want the best for you, and they want to see you succeed."
This trust has helped players find a community and even a new home at Tennessee.
"We're very close off the court as well," White said. "Everyone's friendly. Everybody understands each other. I would definitely say this is a home away from home."
With every early morning workout, late-night hangout and everything in between, Theuerkauf knows this team is bigger than herself and will have a lasting impact on every individual.
"We're becoming a sisterhood," she said.
And for a program known for its historic accomplishments and a proud tradition of producing Lady Vols for life, that bonding process is right on target with what helped Tennessee amass the most wins in women's basketball history and appear in a record 44-consecutive NCAA Tournaments.
Caldwell's squad takes its first steps in pursuit of a 45th postseason berth on Monday, as Tennessee plays host to Duquesne at Food City Center. Tip-off is slated for 6:30 p.m. ET., with tickets on sale at AllVols.com and the game available for live streaming on SECN+.
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballTuesday, October 27
Tuesday, October 27
Thursday, October 22
Tuesday, October 13
