Before each game, LSU women’s basketball head coach Nikki Caldwell uses the same method to prepare — by going into spiritual mode. So she turns on her Whitney Houston Pandora station.
“She represented beauty in her voice,” Caldwell said about Houston.
Caldwell said she loved Houston’s versatility as a musician, and she wants the same for her team. When Houston performed, she could go into a concert, stun the fans and leave them wanting more all in the same night, Caldwell said. She said she wants her student-athletes to do the same for their fans.
“She was somebody that was very diverse and could adapt to any situation and any crowd,” Caldwell said. “When you think about being a coach, you want to have a team that’s adaptable, that can go into an arena and blow them away. That’s her voice.”
Caldwell’s music choices range from Houston and Gretchen Wilson to Luther Vandross, Kem and Kenney Chesney. The songs Caldwell listened to during her time as a player at the University of Tennessee and now as a coach at LSU reflect her laid back, casual personality.
Since giving birth to her daughter, Justice, last March, Caldwell has expanded her music library to children’s music. Her favorites include “Wheels on the Bus” and what she calls “random Caldwell originals.”
“You just make up songs like ‘We’re gonna put this on your right foot,’ and you just come up with songs and lyrics when you have a child. It’s funny,” she said.
Although Caldwell said she didn’t grow up with as many originals as Justice, her mom played Diana Ross, Donna Summer and Lionel Richie frequently.
Growing up in Oak Ridge, Tenn., Caldwell’s mother owned a modeling school where Caldwell and her younger sister, Simone, were required to participate in fashion shows. Caldwell said she was too much of a tomboy to take interest in the fashion shows at the time.
But things have changed, she said. Today, Caldwell and her coaching staff are known for their fashionable attire and high heels worn for every game. In fact, Caldwell and her assistant coach, Tasha Butts, share a personal stylist.
Caldwell said her interest in fashion changed in high school. In her years at Oak Ridge High School, Caldwell’s basketball coach Jill Prudden made sure the girls dressed presentably for away games and got cleaned up after the game to support the boys — a tradition Caldwell continued in college. In addition to Coach Prudden, Caldwell’s mother emphasized the importance of good impressions through fashion.
“She would always talk about being on your first impression wherever you go, by always making us aware that we are ladies first even though we played volleyball, basketball or track,” she said. “That you still need to represent yourself as a lady first.”
In 1994, Caldwell graduated from the University of Tennessee with a degree in communications, but was unable to play basketball overseas because of numerous injuries. She started a job in color commentary, assisting announcers during games. After attending practices, watching the team and learning more about the players, Caldwell knew she wanted to do more that just report from the sidelines.
“That drove me into coaching because sitting behind the scenes wasn’t enough for me,” she said. “Just talking about it wasn’t enough for me. I felt like I [needed to] do more and have more of a positive influence on these young ladies.”
Coach Nikki Caldwell rocking some high heeled boots after the Vanderbilt game on Jan. 20, 2013.
