Justin Caldwell is joining the Tennessee men’s basketball staff as the player development coordinator, the school announced Friday.
Caldwell brings 11 years of college coaching experience to coach Rick Barnes’ staff. Caldwell is the husband of Lady Vols coach Kim Caldwell, who was hired in April.
“We are pleased to add Justin to our staff here at Tennessee,” Barnes said in a school release. “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 spent the 2023-24 season as an assistant coach at Marshall. He has five years of head coaching experience at Division II Glenville State.
Justin Caldwell hired to Tennessee basketball staff
Caldwell began his coaching career as an assistant at Glenville State, his alma mater, in 2013. He was an assistant coach with the Pioneers for three seasons before joining the staff at Division II California University of Pennsylvania in 2016. He was hired as the coach at Glenville State, his alma mater, in 2018.
The Mullens, West Virginia, native led the Pioneers for the following five seasons before he was hired at Marshall.
Caldwell played at West Virginia Wesleyan for three seasons, scoring 1,997 points. He played his final season at Glenville State and averaged 23.7 points. He played professionally in Luxembourg before starting his coaching career.
Caldwell married the former Kim Stephens in May 2023. He played and coached at Glenville State, including overlapping stints as the coaches of the men’s and women’s programs. Kim Caldwell was hired as the Marshall women’s coach in April 2024. He was hired as an assistant coach on the men’s staff at Marshall in June 2024.
The couple is expecting their first child this winter.
Justin Caldwell is first new face on Rick Barnes’ shuffling staff
Caldwell is the first addition to the Barnes’ staff this offseason.
“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,” Caldwell said in a school release. “I cannot wait to get to work with this talented team and do all I can to help this excellent program continue its success.”
Barnes’ staff had multiple role changes this offseason.
In July, Lucas Campbell and Bryan Lentz were promoted to assistant coaches and Riley Collins was promoted to assistant director of player development. Tennessee has five assistant coaches, which became the allowable total for men’s and women’s basketball as of July 2023. UT has had the trio of Rod Clark, Justin Gainey and Gregg Polinsky for the past three seasons.
Campbell, who was a UT walk-on guard under Barnes from 2015-19, returned to Tennessee as the director of recruiting in June 2022. Lentz has been on Barnes’ staff since 2018 and is entering his seventh season at UT. He previously was the director of player development.
Collins joined Tennessee as a graduate assistant prior to the 2022-23 season. He spent the past two years in the role before being hired in a full-time capacity as the assistant director of player development.
Mary-Carter Eggert is the director of basketball operations, Garrett Medenwald is the strength and conditioning coach, Chad Newman is the trainer, and Luke Schapker is the director of video and analytics.
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Scott Daughtry and Isaiah Sulack are graduate assistants. Colin Coyne is a student assistant. Sulcak and Coyne were walk-ons during Barnes’ tenure and exhausted their eligibility following last season. Sulack finished his career at Marist.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
