Rick Barnes didn’t come to the University of Tennessee under the best of circumstances and certainly not at the best of times. The university hired Barnes as its new men’s basketball coach on March 31, 2015, just 14 days before the regular recruiting period and just four days after firing Donnie Tyndall. Barnes took the job just two days after being fired by Texas himself.
Tyndall had led the Vols to a 16-16 overall record and 7-11 mark in the Southeastern Conference, all over-achievements after the departure of coach Cuonzo Martin the year before. Tyndall had his work cut out for him too, there was just one problem; he was under investigation by the NCAA for recruiting violations while at Southern Miss. The season ended with Tyndall getting fired and the NCAA charging him and Southern Miss with “Level 1” violations four months later.
When Tyndall replaced Martin Darius Thompson transferred to Virginia, A.J. Davis transferred to Central Florida and Qunton Chievous transferred to Hampton so three key players were already gone before Tyndall got canned. His departure would only cause the team to shed even more players.
Tariq Owens transferred to St. John’s, Willie Carmichael transferred to Western Kentucky and Braxton Bonds transferred to Columbia State. After all that, it’s no surprise Tennessee’s recruiting class didn’t light the world on fire. Lamonte Turner, Ray Kasongo, Admiral Schofield, Shembari Phillips and Kyle Alexander were all three-star prospects. Of those men on Schofield and Phillips played any significant time, with Schofield leading the group averaging 7.6 points and four rebounds per game.
The day before Barnes wrapped up their regular season with an 83-60 loss to Ole Miss, I had the chance to talk to him when he visited the Ken Sparks Coaching Clinic in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. I asked him what he’d learned from his first season at Tennessee and coaching in the SEC.
“I love the fans,” Barnes said. “They deserve a great basketball program. They deserve great teams at our university. I can’t thank them enough for what they did. We’re still amazed at the turnout. It created a love-affair between them and the team.”
Barnes team went 15-19 and 6-12 in the conference, just a win off each mark from Tyndall’s season before, despite the losses. Barnes could have likely beaten both if he hadn’t lost his leading scorer, senior Kevin Punter, with a stress fracture in his right foot.
Punter had averaged 22 points per game in the 2015-16 season and just looking at the Vols final scores over the month of March, it’s not hard to see maybe four more wins there. A nine-point season-ending loss to LSU in the SEC tournament stands out pretty large too.
A portion of Coach Barnes' recent message to Tennessee fans. Watch his complete video here: https://t.co/b7ZcFavRp8https://t.co/HxXYMmoaRu
— Rick Barnes (@RickBarnesUT) March 16, 2016
Knowing the end was near that day in February, Barnes was still feeling good about his team.
“This senior group has helped us lay a foundation,” Barnes said. “We’ll always appreciate that they bought in and stuck with us. Every coach that came before me did a nice job with the program. These players that we love were really recruited by them and their staffs.”
But the odd nature of Barnes situation wasn’t lost on him.
“You’re still coaching basketball and you’re still working with kids,” Barnes said. “With the seniors, some of them have had three coaches in three years. You learn that young people can be resilient. They’ve had to deal with it and it’s not easy. Young people want certainties and a comfort level and that didn’t present that to them. I’ve enjoyed it a lot, coaching this team. It’s a good group of guys.”
With no further postseason games to prepare for Barnes can now focus on his first full offseason of recruiting. He’s already made coups, landing No. 28 shooting guard in the country, Jalen Johnson, a four-star recruit from High Point, N.C. Kwe Parker, a four-star guard and Johnson’s teammate at Wesleyan Christian Academy has also signed along with a four-star power forward Grant Williams. With Punter’s return and the other players getting a second year in Barnes’ system, the Volunteers are looking at something much better than a .500 record next season.
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