Tennessee will take the floor at Food City Center Tuesday night without a single player who wore orange last season. Not one returner. Fifteen new faces make up Kim Caldwell’s Lady Vols, and Tuesday’s 6:30 p.m. exhibition against Florida A&M and Lady Vols great Bridgette Gordon is the first chance for fans across the country to see what months of work have built.

That roster turnover is a story Caldwell and company may be tired of hearing, and I would understand why. It’s a new season, everyone in the building believes, and there is an opportunity to prove the people who think this year is too steep a climb wrong. Assistant coach Bill Ferrara, who came over from Florida State to join Caldwell, said that doubt is exactly where this group wants to be.

“I was the first one to say yes to Kim while all the fire was going on outside,” Ferrara said. “We all have a chip on our shoulder. And so that’s right where we want to be. We want people to sleep on us.”

That mindset isn’t just a staff talking point. Every player on this roster chose Tennessee knowing there wouldn’t be a lot of belief outside of their locker room and that the outside noise wasn’t going anywhere. That kind of decision tends to bring in a certain type of player. When I asked Rylie Theuerkauf how a roster of strangers became so close so fast, it was evident that Caldwell did her homework.

“We all came here with a chip on our shoulder,” Theuerkauf said. “Kim did a really good job recruiting like-minded people, and we just all got along the first week.”

Chemistry is nice in the summer and in the fall, but it matters most when a game goes sideways, and somebody has to pull everybody back in. On a brand new team, nobody knew who that would be. Ferrara said the team has a leadership cabinet with a lot of different styles, including Fats Janneh, who keeps the group loose and laughing. One voice has stood out.

“I think the one that really has surprised a lot of people is how good Zhen Craft is as a leader,” Ferrara said. “She’s the one that’s constantly pulling everybody together in huddles. She has a sense and a feel for the moment in practice, when things aren’t going the way it should go, where she can pull them together.”

Effort is one of the first things Caldwell and her staff bring up about this team. The extra things can be the difference between wins and losses. “Practice how you play” is an old saying in sports, and from what I’ve seen, this team embodies that.

“Every time they dive on a loose ball in practice and celebrate each other, that gives me goosebumps because I know we got it right when we do stuff like that,” Ferrara said.

Everyone knows the full-court press Caldwell runs. It has taken some getting used to, but it’s already proved effective. A good press forces turnovers, and turnovers turn into easy points. Tennessee scored 109 in its Oct. 17 open practice scrimmage, and a team spokesperson said the Lady Vols averaged 102 over three scrimmages to that point. The press is a big reason why.

Theuerkauf played the press defense in high school and AAU but never in college. She came to Knoxville to grow her game for a shot at the next level. When I asked what has improved most since she arrived, she went straight to two things that go hand in hand.

“Definitely my conditioning. Definitely my defense,” Theuerkauf said. “Just playing in the fast-paced game, just pressing the whole game and being able to do that has really been improving for me.”

K.K. Smikle is a scorer as well, and she showed it with 30 points in that Saturday scrimmage. She didn’t play last season after seven games due to injury, and stepping back onto the floor in a system that asks this much on both ends can be demanding. She explained what makes the press defense a challenge.

“I think the amount of energy it requires,” Smikle said. “Playing offense and having to pick up matchup full-court, pressing traps. It definitely takes more conditioning.”

Tuesday night won’t be perfect. The Lady Vols still have to tighten up at the free-throw line and finish the easy twos when their legs are spent. There may be a bust in coverage at some point. That’s reality in October, and anyone ready to overreact should take a breath. Caldwell has been up front about where the work is. The press is ahead of the half-court defense right now, and in the SEC, teams will break pressure and make you guard. When that happens, this group has to defend as five, not one.

“I like where we’re at in our press,” Caldwell said at media day. “I like where our offense is at. Our half-court defense, making sure that we play team defense, because our one-on-one defense is not going to get it done.”

Lastly, what I don’t expect to see is a team that looks like it doesn’t want to be there or anyone playing for themselves. Caldwell and her staff will not have to coach effort this year or worry about anyone feeling entitled or too good to do what it takes. These players want to get it right, and they want to be in Knoxville.

“They love being a Lady Vol,” Caldwell said. “They are very much like-minded with me of I appreciate being here every single day. I never thought I could be here, and I think that our team emulates that a little bit. I hope that the fan base gets to know them from your guys’ questions today and gets to see them next week [Tuesday night] play as hard as you’ve seen any of my teams play.”

Talent will decide plenty this season, but a roster that wants to be here and wants to be coached gives Caldwell something to lean on when the tough nights come, and in the SEC they will come.

Tuesday’s exhibition streams on SEC Network+ with Zack Nelson on play-by-play and Lady Vol For Life Niya Butts on analysis.

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