When former Texas coach Rick Barnes attended the press conference announcing his departure from Austin, he told reporters that he would be back coaching “sooner than you think.” Just two days later, Barnes was hired as the new head coach at Tennessee.
Tennessee fired former coach Donnie Tyndall after just one season, once it was revealed that the NCAA found him guilty of major recruiting violations while at Southern Miss, where he coached for two seasons.
Barnes is the latest high profile coach to land in the league, with former UCLA head man Ben Howland being hired at Mississippi State just a week ago. Bruce Pearl took the reigns at Auburn prior to this season after being out of coaching for several seasons.
The toughest task that will await Barnes in Knoxville is continuing the momentum Tyndall had taken from former coach Cuonzo Martin, now at California.
Competing against the likes of Kentucky and Florida surely won’t be easy, but it’s also competing with Pearl and Howland on the recruiting trail that will determine whether or not Barnes can lead UT back into the realm of relevance.
Unlike at Texas, Barnes won’t have a backyard of endless basketball talent to recruit. He and his staff will need to forge relationships in Memphis, St. Louis, Atlanta and other major metro areas across the South in order to begin poaching enough talent to win big in the SEC.
While the end of his tenure in Austin left Barnes looking sour to many across the country, he helped resurrect the Longhorns’ program and turn it into a player on the national scene. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him do the same at Tennessee.
