Tennessee women’s basketball fires assistant coach Roman Tubner

Tennessee women’s basketball coach Kim Caldwell has another vacancy to fill on her staff. Two people familiar with the situation told USA TODAY Sports on Thursday that assistant coach Roman Tubner has been fired by the Lady Vols. Tubner is the second staff member to leave Tennessee after a turbulent season which ended with eight consecutive losses and a first-round defeat to NC State in the NCAA Tournament.

Another assistant coach, Gabe Lazo, resigned last week and was quickly hired by LSU days later. To replace Lazo, Caldwell hired Bill Ferarra away from Florida State. Tubner, 36, joined Tennessee’s staff when Caldwell was hired to lead the Lady Vols in 2024.

He was previously an assistant at Alabama for three seasons under Kristy Curry. He's also been an assistant at Ball State, UNC-Wilmington, Indiana State, Austin Peay and in the Division II ranks. Earlier this offseason, Tubner also interviewed for the head coach opening at Kennesaw State.

The Owls instead hired former Chattanooga associate head coach Tianni Kelly. Industry sources widely believed he would join Gary Redus' staff at Rutgers , but the rookie head coach's full compliment of hires were announced earlier this week without a mention of Tubner. Tennessee is going to have to rebuild its roster this offseason.