Rick Barnes: Kim Caldwell doubts in the first season as head coach of Tennessee Lady Vols.

Danny White went off when he hired Kim Caldwell as a replacement for Kellie Harper as basketball coach of Tennessee Lady Vols last spring. Caldwell was only 35 years old with one year with the division-i trainer experience after spending most of her career in the state of Division II.

But Caldwell returned Led Tennessee to Sweet 16 in her first season in Knoxville after Tennessee picked up the four-sea state Ohio with five seeds on Sunday evening.

“I look back and really admire Danny White and his employees that he made a attitude,” said Kim Caldwell, basketball coach of the men from Tennessee, on Wednesday. “I mean people probably said who? What? But she got it so quickly.”

Caldwell may have been in the Division I Coaching experience after Knoxville Short, but she had a unique style that she believed in my heart. During her opening press conference, Caldwell constantly defended her pace and constantly pressed the style of play.

More from RTI: What Rick Barnes said before Tennessee goes to Indianapolis, sweet 16

This style of play was crucial to bring Tennessee back to Sweet 16 when the Lady Vols converted the state of Ohio over 23 times and converted it into 37 points in the 82-67 victory.

“It’s great,” said Barnes. “I mean, from the time she went on this campus, she had an enormous influence. I would go back a year ago when we started with the large orange caravan that she knew that she was confident what she did, her style, she knew that she believed in it.”

The basketball program from Tennessee’s men and women shares the use of the Pratt Pavilion Practice facility, which prompted Barnes to observe the Lady Vols in the season and in the low season. The basketball coach of the Vols veteran men says, the way the Lady Vols work does not surprise their immediate success for him.

“If you knew how difficult our women’s team and I saw all summer and autumn, I am not least surprised in what she has going,” said Barnes. “It will only continue to build on it. And I hope this team continues, because again we saw it personally and nearby how hard they work every day and it is really good to watch their success.”

Both men’s and women’s programs from Tennessee are in Sweet 16. Barnes’ team will compete in Indianapolis against Kentucky on Friday evening, while the Caldwell team will compete in Birmingham on Saturday afternoon.