Kim Caldwell hires Lexie Barrier as fifth Lady Vols basketball assistant coach

Lady Vols basketball coach Kim Caldwell is adding Lexie Barrier as her fifth assistant coach, the program announced Thursday.

Barrier was most recently an assistant at her alma mater, James Madison University. She joins Caldwell's staff of Jenna Burdette, Gabe Lazo, Roman Tubner and Angel Rizor.

"I'm excited to welcome Lexie to our staff," Caldwell said in a school release. "She is an up-and-coming coach who is hungry, has great energy and likes to recruit. I've known her for some time. She was a good player whose career I have followed, and I'm so excited to have her here and welcome her to the Lady Vol family."

Caldwell also announced in the release Thursday that she is retaining several support staff members. Director of basketball operations Catherine Greene, director of student-athlete success & external relations Heather Ervin, director of video and creative content Josh Theis and program coordinator Haley Hall will all remain with the program.

Dillion Carson will also stay on staff as a graduate assistant, but P'hariz Watkins will not. One of Caldwell's former Marshall assistant coaches, Mashayla Cecil, will take over the other graduate assistant position.

Barrier spent the past two seasons at JMU and helped lead it to two 23-plus win seasons. JMU tied for the Sun Belt regular-season championship and won the tournament title in 2022-23 to earn an NCAA Tournament berth. The Dukes lost to Marshall, then led by Caldwell, in the Sun Belt Tournament championship game last season.

Barrier spent a year at Marshall prior to her stint at JMU. She worked alongside Burdette during the 2021-22 season as the recruiting coordinator. Barrier also assisted in player development and was an academic liaison for players.

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Barrier started her coaching career as a graduate manager at NC State for the 2020-21 season, earning her MBA in 2021. She graduated from JMU in 2020. Barrier started in 96 of her 127 appearances for the Dukes, finishing her career with 1,216 points.

Barrier faced the Lady Vols twice as a player in a home-and-home series in 2016 and 2017. The second was played at Thompson-Boling Arena, and Barrier led JMU with 14 points, four rebounds and an assist.

Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her at cora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on Twitter @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Kim Caldwell hires Lexie Barrier on Lady Vols basketball staff