According to Tennessee Athletics, First-year Tennessee women’s basketball head coach Kim Caldwell has announced the addition of a fifth assistant coach, welcoming former James Madison University assistant Lexie Barrier to the program.
Barrier joins fellow aides Roman Tubner, Gabe Lazo, Jenna Burdette and Angel Rizor as well as director of women’s basketball sports performance Nolan Harvath as hires by Caldwell since she arrived at UT.
Barrier makes the move to Knoxville after spending the past two seasons as an assistant at her alma mater. She helped JMU to a pair of 23+ win seasons, forging a 49-20 overall record and 26-10 mark in the Sun Belt Conference during that time. The program tied for the SBC regular season crown and won the tournament title in 2022-23, earning an NCAA Tournament berth. In 2023-24, the Dukes fell to Caldwell’s Marshall squad in the SBC Tournament Championship Game before earning a bid to the first-ever NCAA-sanctioned Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament.
Prior to her move back to Harrisonburg, Barrier spent a year at Marshall, working alongside Burdette during the 2021-22 campaign. During her time with the Thundering Herd, Barrier acted as the recruiting coordinator, assisted in player development and served as the academic liaison for players, helping guide the team to a 3.5 overall GPA.