Members of LSU women’s basketball team were surprised to see coach Nikki Caldwell play softball with them at a team barbecue last week.
Caldwell’s tall, slender figure highlights her physical beauty, but her direct eye contact and active, fun-loving side are what define the newest LSU women’s basketball coach, who was introduced April 4.
The players weren’t expecting her to get down and dirty with them. But that’s the attitude Caldwell wanted to emphasize to her team.
Snagged away from UCLA by LSU Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Joe Alleva, the 38-year-old Caldwell brings a fresh approach to teambuilding, one that LSU senior forward Courtney Jones said resonates well with the players.
“She brings that ‘it’ we need,” Jones said. “Our team needs somebody who can go overboard for us. She’s energetic and free-spirited and always happy to see us.”
Caldwell said the process of her and the coaching staff bonding with the players has been gradual.
“It’s been a very innocent, natural progression,” she said. “Before we learn a play, we have to learn when a teammate falls down, everybody runs over there and picks them up. … In a timeout, we’re jogging to the bench, and the bench [players are] jogging to them.”
Caldwell got a firsthand look at the Lady Tigers when they handed UCLA its first loss of the 2010 season Dec. 28, 55-53. She said she was thrilled to get an interview for the LSU coaching position in March when Van Chancellor stepped down.
“When I first met [Alleva] and his staff, we matched up in our love for the game of basketball, but also the game of life,” Caldwell said. “He wanted empowerment, and that was a major reason why I became a coach.”
Caldwell learned the importance of a cohesive family unit when she and her younger sister, Simone, were raised by their mother in the small town of Oak Ridge, Tenn. Her mother Jean, uncle Mike and cousin Marcus introduced her to sports.
Mike played in the NFL for 11 years and is now the Philadelphia Eagles’ linebackers coach.
“In high school it killed my boyfriend situation because no one wanted to date me with those two around,” Caldwell joked. “I’m awkward, and I’m tall … but [past suitors] were probably being threatened by one of my relatives.”
Caldwell first played basketball when she was 6 years old at the Boys and Girls Club. She didn’t have an easy time as she got older, though.
“Sometimes I wasn’t picked because I was the girl,” Caldwell said. “So I would go to the other court and throw up a lot of shots until it was my time. It taught me that not everything will be given to you.”
Caldwell made a name for herself when she played at Tennessee from 1990 to 1994 and was an assistant coach there from 2002 to 2008. Under the direction of coach Pat Summitt, Caldwell won national championships as a freshman in 1991 and on the coaching side in 2007 and 2008.
In three seasons at UCLA, Caldwell accumulated a 72-26 record and took the Bruins to two NCAA tournaments.
“It’s UCLA’s loss and LSU’s fantastic gain to get a brilliant, rising coach of Nikki Caldwell’s caliber,” Summitt said in a statement after Caldwell’s hiring.
Caldwell’s grandfather, Isaiah, said the family loves having her closer to home again.
“We’re so glad they put her back in the Southeastern Conference,” he said. “She’s a fine kid. I like her style; she’s not afraid to get angry with you.”
Caldwell is also passionate about her endeavors off the court.
She co-founded a non-profit organization, Champions for a Cause, to raise money for breast cancer awareness, and she has garnered more than $250,000 through motorcycle rides around the country. Later this summer she will embark on a journey of more than 1,250 miles from South Dakota to Las Vegas.
Caldwell said settling in Baton Rouge is a welcome change from the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles.
“I never would have presented LSU to my staff if I didn’t think it would be great for all of us,” Caldwell said. “I want this to be my home.”