Lady Vols basketball coach Kim Caldwell has hired Denise Jilka to be her new director of basketball operations, Tennessee announced May 15.
Jilka replaces Catherine Greene, who was hired as the ACC director of women’s basketball in October. Tennessee went the entirety of the 2025-26 season without replacing Greene, who was executive director of basketball operations and chief of staff the previous four seasons. Greene had been with the program since 2019.
“I could not be happier to announce Denise Jilka as our executive director of basketball operations,” Caldwell said in a school release. “Because of her work ethic and her familiarity with our program, our staff and personnel around the university and SEC, I expect this to be a seamless transition. Her energetic personality and spirit, her organizational skills and her ability to connect with people will serve her and our program well in this role.”
Jilka has worked at Tennessee since 2014, when she was hired as an assistant academic counselor. She was promoted to academic counselor and tutor coordinator in 2015 and then was promoted to director of academic services for Olympic sports in 2023, a role she has spent the last three years in. Jilka has no previous experience as a director of basketball operations.
Jilka will join Maggie Stanley, the assistant director of basketball operations, in handling the overall logistics for the program, including overseeing all team travel, academics, daily scheduling and more.
Stanley is also special assistant to the head coach. She was promoted to the position this spring after being a graduate assistant last season. Stanley was the director of basketball operations for Caldwell during her lone season at Marshall.
Jilka played softball at Bradley University and graduated in 2011. She earned a master’s in sport and performance psychology from University of Denver in 2013 and a master’s in sport management from Tennessee in 2017.
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: Kim Caldwell hires Denise Jilka as new Tennessee director of basketball operations