Tenn Alumni on Barnes

[Sirhornsalot]

Been chatting with a friend of mine who is Tennessee alumni and goes to all their games, football and basketball.

They are fired up about Rick Barnes. Their program has been in disarray. Bruce Pearl was deeply loved by them because he got the student body involved, made things fun, crowds turned out for them. They won. The next guy had no shot as he was guilty of not being Pearl. lol  Pearl got them in deep do-do with the NCAA.

They expect Barnes to get the program back on track, doing it the right way and keeping the program clean. 

I told him to expect a good defensive team but they better recruit a bunch of pure shooters who can defend. lol

"We understand why he's not at Texas anymore. We think he just needs a new, fresh start and so do we," he said.

Barnes will be only 200 miles from his Hickory, NC childhood home.

I wish him well. Hook'em!

 

[Worster1]

Good info.  Yup, I think most of us wish RB well at Tenn.

 

[castlebravo1]

I'm hearing the same thing here in Nashville from my UT, uh Tennessee, friends.

 

[Juan]

I wish him and them the best

Barnes is a likeable guy and easy to pull for

But he was allowed to stay here ~ 4 years too long

 

[streettopeschel]

win-win for Barnes and little ut. Texas and he both needed a change and i suspect he'll do well. I hope he does.

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

I told him to expect a good defensive team but they better recruit a bunch of pure shooters who can defend. lol

There's the rub, isn't it? It's tough to find pure shooters who are also willing defenders.

I wish Barnes well. He landed in a good place.

 

[More Cowbell]

I really like Barnes and hope he succeeds with the Vols. The biggest flaw I saw, and that drove me the most crazy, was the other one and doners. Not the NBA guys, the doghouse guys. Nearly every year we would waste a minimum of one scholarship on somebody who either played for 25 seconds in a few games before being pulled for one reason or another, then sat on the end of the bench before transferring out. To me it was like we were dealing with scholarship limits every year. I hope our next coach does a better job of identifying who fits before offering a spot on the team.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

I really like Barnes and hope he succeeds with the Vols. The biggest flaw I saw, and that drove me the most crazy, was the other one and doners. Not the NBA guys, the doghouse guys. Nearly every year we would waste a minimum of one scholarship on somebody who either played for 25 seconds in a few games before being pulled for one reason or another, then sat on the end of the bench before transferring out. To me it was like we were dealing with scholarship limits every year. I hope our next coach does a better job of identifying who fits before offering a spot on the team.

Very good point and so true.

 

[Juan]

I really like Barnes and hope he succeeds with the Vols. The biggest flaw I saw, and that drove me the most crazy, was the other one and doners......

I think I hated the offense the most

And the maddening corollary of Barnes not recruiting shooters.

An offense actually designed to have the worst shooter on the team take the most shots.

It never made sense.

Still doesnt.

 

[bcherry168]

A great move for Tennessee, and Barnes. And Texas. I wish him the best. Hope he can turn that program around.

 

[JimR]

I really like Barnes and hope he succeeds with the Vols. The biggest flaw I saw, and that drove me the most crazy, was the other one and doners. Not the NBA guys, the doghouse guys. Nearly every year we would waste a minimum of one scholarship on somebody who either played for 25 seconds in a few games before being pulled for one reason or another, then sat on the end of the bench before transferring out. To me it was like we were dealing with scholarship limits every year. I hope our next coach does a better job of identifying who fits before offering a spot on the team.

name them.

 

[More Cowbell]

name them.

This year Demarcus Croaker.  Martez Walker wound up being a dismissal but he seemed to me to be a candidate if that incident wouldn't have happened.  Julien Lewis, Jaylen Bond, Sheldon McClellan, Sterling Gibbs are names I can come up with at the moment and are all within the past 3 years I believe.  If I have time, I'll go through some of my old media guides and try to come up with a few more.  I'll be curious what Jordan Barnett chooses to do.  He fits the profile of somebody in the past that winds up bugging out. 

Edit - Edgar Moreno, Harrison Smith, Shawn Williams, and Varez Ward.  I went back a little over a decade.  Might be more but that's a pretty conclusive list.  Martez Walker was considered a transfer but under the circumstances it was more of a dismissal.

 

[Shambeaux]

Great fit for Tenn and UT gets to start a new era....win/win. Barnes is a great guy and he deserved a better exit, but that is another discussion all by itself. I think he will do exactly what Tenn wants; get to the tournament, recruit good players, win the right way, get the fans excited about basketball again.

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

Barnes is a great guy and he deserved a better exit, but that is another discussion all by itself.

There's never a "good" way to fire anyone.

Patterson had no business telling Barnes he was safe after another Rd 1 loss if that indeed happened. Foolish

 

[Shambeaux]

There's never a "good" way to fire anyone.

Patterson had no business telling Barnes he was safe after another Rd 1 loss if that indeed happened. Foolish

I agree, never a good way to part after 17 years, but the promise followed by trying to force out longtime assistants is what bugged me. Doesn't really matter how I feel though but it does bother me. Like I said, perfect result for all involved.