KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — First-year Tennessee women’s basketball head coach Kim Caldwell has announced the addition of four dynamic staff members, including three who previously served as associate head coaches and two from SEC schools who possess impressive credentials in the world of recruiting and player development.
Joining the Lady Vol program as assistant coaches are Roman Tubner, former associate head coach/recruiting coordinator at Alabama; Gabe Lazo (pronounced Lazzo), former associate head coach/defensive coordinator at Mississippi State; Jenna Burdette, former associate head coach at Marshall; and Angel Rizor (pronounced Riser), former assistant coach at Marshall.
“I am very pleased to welcome our new coaching staff members to Rocky Top,” Caldwell said. “It’s an outstanding group of high-energy coaches that is gifted in the areas of recruiting, teaching, motivating, mentoring and player development. I’m so excited to get our basketball team on the court with this group and can’t wait to see what we can collectively do as a staff to help our current players and future Lady Vols become the best they can possibly be.”
Tubner, who has spent the past three seasons working with Kristy Curry at Alabama, was promoted to associate head coach prior to the 2023-24 campaign. A 2019 selection to the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s 30 Under Thirty and a member of Silver Waves Media’s 2023 50 Most Impactful Assistants, he helped the Crimson Tide to three consecutive 20+ win seasons for the first time since 1999, including a 24-victory campaign in 2023-24 that was Bama’s best since 1998.
A contributing factor to that on-court success was UA’s effort in recruiting, where he led the charge in the signing or commitment of 16 players during his tenure as recruiting coordinator. He recruited and assisted in development of two All-SEC players and an SEC All-Freshman selection in 2023-24 and helped land a 2023 recruiting class ranked No. 11 by espnW and a portal class rated No. 25 by 247Sports and Brandon Clay Scouting that season as well.
A 2011 graduate of Centenary College in Louisiana (psychology) with a master’s from Arkansas-Monticello (physical education & coaching) in 2012, Tubner began his coaching career at UAM in 2011 as a graduate assistant and quickly rose to the role of assistant coach and recruiting coordinator in 2013-14. Before joining Alabama in 2021, he made assistant coaching stops at Arkansas Tech (2014-17), Austin Peay (2017-18), Indiana State (2018-19), UNC Wilmington (2019-21) and Ball State (2020-21).
