Before she was an ESPN analyst, Andraya Carter played basketball for the Tennessee Volunteers. And from her point of view on the College GameDay desk, she’s not staying quiet about the situation the storied program currently finds itself in.
The Lady Vols’ season is currently in freefall. They’ve lost six of their last eight games, which include getting blown out by UConn (96-66) and South Carolina (93-50). Tennessee has currently lost three straight, including an 82-74 home loss to Texas A&M, which came into the game 3-9 in conference action.
Tennessee head coach Kim Caldwell hasn’t exactly been inspiring confidence during this stretch. Following the South Carolina loss, she said her team “had a lot of quit in them.” As for why they let the game get so far away from them, she said that “is a question for them.” She also caught flak over her handshake snub with Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin following another Volunteers loss.
During a segment on Sunday’s College GameDay, Carter reacted to Caldwell’s comments following the South Carolina loss with some equally harsh, tough love of her own.
👀 ESPN’s @Andraya_Carter Calls Out Kim Caldwell: “She has a lot of things to figure out” and the team “has no belief.” “If you’re a coach, you are required to figure out a system that fits your players. There’s no amount of NIL money that can buy buy-in.” 👀 #LadyVols #SEC pic.twitter.com/PEDlNjKv6w
— The Ball Out (@theballoutmedia) February 22, 2026
“Well, a lot of things are going on, and I agree with Coach Staley. You should never say that your team has a lot of quit. You never want to tell the fans that are watching and spending money to come watch your players that the players that they are watching are quitting on them, right? So that is the first mistake.
“Kim Caldwell is going to figure out what to say and when to say it in the public eye, but she has got a lot of things to figure out because I know she said this team has a lot of quit. To me, when I watch them, what they have is no belief. And when you’re playing on a team — and this is any team — you’ve got to believe in yourself, you’ve got to believe in the system, and you’ve got to believe in the staff.
“Because when you’re struggling with yourself, maybe you can lean on the system and your teammates, and when your team is struggling, you can turn to your staff. It doesn’t look like Tennessee, the players, they know who to turn to. Some of them might believe in themselves, but they believe in themselves on an island. It doesn’t translate to winning. It doesn’t inspire their teammates at all. There’s very little belief in this Tennessee locker room when I watch them.”
Carter went to explain that she was interested to see “what’s gonna budge,” the team or the system, because a coach is “required to figure out a system that fits your players,” and that doesn’t seem to be something Caldwell is doing.
It was a blistering takedown by the rising ESPN star, but one that came backed not only by homework but a personal passion for the program involved.
As GameDay analyst Chiney Ogwumike put it, “My good sis, Andraya Carter, it is Sunday, and you are taking your school to church.”
Amen.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.