It feels like the losses simply can't be stopped for the Tennessee Lady Vols and head coach Kim Caldwell, but one of the departures was entirely self-inflicted: the program fired assistant coach Roman Tubner for seemingly no reason.
Of course, after Tubner was fired, rumors started circulating that it was because he was one of the thorns in Tennessee's side, leading to all of the exits by players.
That was quickly rebuked by Deniya Prawl, a now-former commit for the Volunteers, who backed Tubner on social media despite no longer heading to Tennessee.
Deniya Prawl supports former Tennessee assistant Roman Tubner
Sports Animal claimed that Tubner was "undermining her" the entire season, and that was what caused the team's falloff at the end of the season. Adding that he would say players didn't have to listen to Caldwell and had led to the "cleaning house" that the Volunteers are seeing right now.
"Coach Roman had the most pure intentions. All he wanted for us was to succeed and stay together," Prawl wrote on X in response to a post from 99.1 Sports Animal, discussing Tubner's firing.
Yet, even with Tubner removed from the equation in Knoxville, the Vols haven't exactly seen a slowdown in departures.
This is not true, Coach Roman had the most pure intentions. All he wanted for us was to succeed and stay together.
— Deniya prawl (@DeniyaPrawl) April 4, 2026
Jaida Civil, the final remaining player on Caldwell's roster, announced she planned to enter the transfer portal, leaving Tennessee with quite literally zero (yes, 0) players still a part of the program.
There has been a complete and absolute blood-letting at Tennessee, from players to assistants, and fans are finding it more and more difficult (seemingly by the day) to support Caldwell as their program's head coach.
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According to the former commit herself, Tubner was all about the program staying intact. Throwing out accusations of assistants like Tubner undermining their head coaches is a stretch at best, and blaming them for a mass exodus is downright absurd.