Story by
Why Danny White says everyone owes Kim Caldwell, Lady Vols an apology after Tony Vitello exit
- Story by
- Why Danny White says everyone owes Kim Caldwell, Lady Vols an apology after Tony Vitello exit
Tennessee athletic director Danny White didn't hold back when addressing a rumor that Lady Vols basketball was the reason Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello is leaving for the MLB .
The rumor claimed that Vitello, who was announced as the new San Francisco Giants manager Oct. 22 , was being driven away from Tennessee because NIL money was being taken from baseball and allocated to the women's basketball team instead. Lady Vols coach Kim Caldwell has been on a recruiting hot streak since she was hired in April 2024, signing the No. 2-ranked 2025 class and elite transfers the last two cycles.
Advertisement
White addressed the rumor head-on during his press conference after Vitello's hire was announced.
"Did anybody report that in here? So who reported it? Somebody had to make up something that's not true for it to become a rumor, right?" White said to the room of reporters. "I think we should all collectively apologize to Kim Caldwell and our women's basketball program, because that's factually incorrect. Never happened."
How Tennessee is splitting revenue sharing money between teams
White went on to clear the air about how Tennessee is splitting up its revenue sharing funds under the annual cap of approximately $20.5 million . That number does not include third-part NIL pay, which is still allowed.
Advertisement
"Our rev share numbers are consistent with the house settlement: 5% for women's basketball, 15% for men's basketball, 75% for football, 5% for other. With that 'other' bucket, which is $900,000, we distributed $750,000 to our baseball program," White said. "That is far from what we do for baseball or for any sport. Like all the most competitive programs in the country, we participated in frontloading last spring. Baseball was a beneficiary of that."
White said Tennessee is supporting baseball "at a higher level than anybody in America." UT committed to full scholarships in baseball for all 34 sports, which White said Tennessee was "one of the first schools to sprint to." He also believes UT is one of the only schools in the nation that's also doing cost of attendance on top of that.
"That was about a $1.2 million new investment this year that a sport like women's basketball wouldn't have gotten," White said. "We do more with rev share and with NIL packages for baseball on top of their rev share. So I know what the competitive space is in the SEC and across of the country, and I know our baseball program is extremely well equipped."
Cora Hall is the University of Tennessee women's athletics reporter for Knox News. Email: cora.hall@knoxnews.com; X: @corahalll ; Bluesky: @corahall.bsky.social . Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks: knoxnews.com/subscribe
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Why Danny White says Kim Caldwell is owed apology after Tony Vitello exit
