On Rick Barnes:
He was in town for several hours yesterday. I believe it's his job and Tennessee believes he's coming. Expect an announcement sometime later today/tomorrow.
How We Got Here:
Barnes received an ultimatum from his AD last week. Current Texas AD Steve Patterson is an NBA guy. Was at Arizona State. Went to Texas. His Dad ran the Rockets for a while. He's a real pr*** from what I understand.
Rick Barnes was pressured to either change staffs or get out of town. He did what most high character people did, he walked or in this case fell on his sword and was fired.
Rick Barnes is a complete home run hire. It's called knocking it out of the park. This was a layup for Tennessee. Hope they don't screw this up and get him officially hired. Of course, as we've seen around here, anything can happen. Hate to call it like it is but that's the way I see it.
This was a national search the likes of which we haven't seen on Tennessee's campus since Mike DeBord was hired here by Butch Jones a few months back.
Like DeBord, Barnes is an adult. He's in a spot in the history of Tennessee hoops that calls for some heavy lifting. This is a pitch perfect hire for the Vols. Look, it would've been nice to hire a kid like Will Wade. This was no place for a gamble. Tennessee needed a sure thing hire here.
It would be impossible for Tennessee hoops to get a guy with a better resume than Barnes for any basketball opening.
The deal with Barnes is that he got stale in Austin. We all understand that. Everyone of us can relate to this. 17 years there and 16 NCAA Tournament appearances is complete success. If he does anything like this here he will have a statue out next to Pat Summitt's.
The knock on Barnes in Austin is that he's challenged as an offensive coach and hasn't addressed this during his recent tenure. He's a defensive and rebounding first guy. His teams have always played hard.
Though he's 62, Barnes is a workout warrior. He's in tremendous physical condition. He could easily coach 10 years here. Easily.
Based on conversations I've had with Austin media folks in the past day and half, I believe Barnes will be a media and fan friendly coach that will spread the word in all four major corners of the Volunteer state.
He's not the most exciting coach on offense but he recruits NBA players. He's a pro's pro. We need him to lock down the state next year. Huge year in state.
Barnes may need to add some SEC flavor to his coaching staff. It will be interesting to see what he has in his back pocket staff wise.
Barnes is a Western Carolina boy married to a University of Tennessee girl. So, there's that aspect to this hire.
He's coming to a place that values hoops way more than the other UT. In fact, I was told by Kirk Bohls, a decorated columnist with the Austin American Statesman Newspaper that Texas never really packed the place even during the Durant year there.
Texas NEVER consistently sold out a 19,000 seat arena. When Barnes gets this thing turned around, he's going to see what it's all about here. 19K will be a mid-week crowd if he wins anywhere near the clip he did at Texas.
All of the sudden the SEC looks serious with Barnes, Cal, Fox, Martin, Pearl, Howland, Kennedy, Donovan, Anderson, etc.
Tennessee absolutely needed an answer like this to the Tyndall fiasco.
Here's the scorecard:
Rick Barnes UT All Time
22 NCAA Appearances 19 NCAA Appearances
3 Elite 8 Appearances 1 Elite 8 Appearance
1 Final Four Appearances 0 Final Four Appearances
When you look at the scorecard, how can you argue with this hire. Tennessee is absolutely blessed to have him.
Just a perfect hire in so many ways. I can't believe it's this easy. What's the catch?
Rick Barnes stands to be the most accomplished coach Tennessee has hired since Johnny Majors in 1976. Think about that, 39 years! Barnes is EASILY the most accomplished basketball coach Tennessee has EVER hired. It's not even close. As you can see from the scorecard, we are very fortunate that he's there.
When you look at UT's short list, if it weren't for Barnes, the Vols would be gambling on some Dime Store Dave Hart unknown. Barnes saves the Vols from so much potential duress. Thank goodness for Steve Patterson and his arrogance. Good stuff.
On Money and such with Barnes:
Chris Dortch is reporting that Barnes is operating without an agent. So, both sides are now ironing out an agreement. Vol Colonel who is generally in the ballpark when it comes to financial figures drops some knowledge and opinion here.
Vol Colonel
'I'm hearing we are paying Barnes north of what he made at Texas. Don't have the figure yet, but I'm hearing maybe as high as 2.7 mil per. I'm surprised by that, tells me Barnes knew they had all bargaining power in the talks.
How damn lucky is Hart?..Here's a guy who gets left at the altar when Charlie Strong didn't get on the plane with him and fly back to Knoxville and then Butch Jones falls in his lap.
Now he gets lucky as hell with the timing of Barnes being out at Texas. Seriously, if not for Barnes, God knows who he hires. I have all ideas his sorry rear end would have been back in Ruston giving Mike White a ton of cash and the buyout money he wouldn't give him last year. He is the luckiest fool on the planet!
Your Relieved Vol Colonel'
Stand With The Tony Basilio Show
Join the T Club
Make a One-Time Donation
Send Us A T-Mail. Click Here.
Click to subscribe on Apple Podcasts
'X', presented by Fairways and Greens and Smoothie King brings it long and strong on UT's football commitment from yesterday.
'X' Says
'Heck with all this basketball talk. Let’s talk Tennessee football. The football picked up a football commitment this evening when
Shreveport, Louisiana wide out Corey Henderson publicly committed to the VOLS. This one has been in the works for awhile.
Henderson attended Junior Day this past weekend and committed to newly anointed Recruiting Coordinator Robert Gillespie.
Speaking of Gillespie as the new Recruiting Coordinator, the early signs are favorable. With Gillespie, we are seeing a change in recruiting philosophy. Gillespie has been very aggressive with getting offers out to kids in Texas and Louisiana much more so than Tennessee has been in the first 3 recruiting cycles under Butch Jones.
Even though early in the 2016 recruiting cycle Tennessee has already offered 15 prospects from the state of Louisiana. That is not a misprint yes 15 prospects from Louisiana. Compare this to the 2015 cycle when Tennessee offered only 12 prospects from Louisiana for the entire cycle.
Now back to Henderson, I love the pickup. He has good size 6'1" and 170 -175 pounds. To my eye Henderson looks to be a perfect fit for this offense . He seems equally comfortable at wide receiver or running the ball from the spread in the backfield. At first I didn’t think he was that fast. However, I noticed after watching his film three or four times.... the kid never got caught from behind.
Henderson has offers from Arkansas, and Georgia as well as Texas Christian and Texas Tech. Those Texas offers speak volumes to me. Those Texas schools value speed and always seem to have quality kids at the wide out position.
The state of Louisiana always cranks out excellent high school football talent year in and year out and the 2016 recruiting cycle may be the deepest in years. A number of kids will go to LSU to be sure. LSU won’t take them all though. Enter Tennessee.
The big question with Henderson is what happens if LSU offers Henderson. LSU took 3 wide receivers in its last class and already in 2016 LSU has 3 wide receivers committed and are actively recruiting other wide out prospects. Tennessee will have its work cut out to hang on to Henderson to be sure.
It is quite clear to me Henderson is very high on Tennessee's wide receiver board. The 2016 scholarship numbers will tighter than in previous recruiting cycles. Every spot in the class is at a premium.
You don’t take a commitment from Corey Henderson if he isn’t close to the top of the board and you have a reasonable expectation of holding onto him until February 2016.
One Final Thing: XOXO....
Welcome to Knoxville hopefully Coach Barnes.
I texted Basilio that I thought I saw you yesterday here in Knoxville.
I'm behind you all the way. Basilio knows where to find me if I can be of assistance.
Good luck!
Go Vols!
'X'
HART AND SMART MAY FINALLY DO SOMETHING OTHER THAN RHYME THIRD TIME'S A CHARM DIDN'T COME UP DOOLEY
SINCE WE LAST SPOKE: 4-2-15
EARLY EDITION: With the hiring of Rick Barnes as Tennessee’s third basketball coach in three years apparently imminent I couldn’t let Tony, Hatfield, Vol Colonel and Orange Throat have all the introductory fun leaving only scraps on the table for my blog’s usual Thursday night post time could I? So without further ado let’s get into it.
HART ATTACK I don’t know if Dave Hart has a
“level of expertise and a level of information that no one else has” but when it comes to the hiring process he has Deion Sanders esque speed and a horseshoe strategically placed in an area of his body that it would take a cavity search to discover....
LEGACY OF LUNACY Donnie Tyndall’s dismissal was simply a continuation of the misery that Tennessee Basketball fans have been subjected to for the majority of times post-Ray Mears....
I’M HAPPY: The moment it became apparent that Rick Barnes was a potential candidate for Tennessee’s vacant job my spirits were boosted
...[more]
In response to Hatfield IX:
'I would like to start things off by indicating how much i enjoy reading your blog everyday and listening to the show when i get a chance. i enjoy reading everybody’s input including tony, orange throat, vc, beano, x, and the Hatfield 9.
It definitely has been a tough time for the big orange nation the last few years, mainly because of the incompetence of mike Hamilton and the blatant arrogance of Dave hart. When we hired butch Jones in December of 2012, many people said, including yours truly, that this would be the most important hire in Tennessee football history. It turned to be a pretty good hire, so far anyway, as Jones has improved things in the field and is recruiting on steroids. We are still waiting on things to become really good or great on the field, but i think that is coming this year.
This basketball hire is the same way. We have got to get this right. As i said before, i really enjoy Keith Hatfield’s input, as he appears to have a wealth of basketball knowledge. However, i cannot disagree any further with his assessment of rick Barnes the last few years. For crying out loud, the guy has still made the NCAA tournament almost every year, 16 of 17 years @ Texas. He has also recruited extremely well. Names like Durant, Augustine, TJ Ford, Lemarcus Aldridge, those are some awesome players. Even though Barnes hasn’t done as well as he did earlier in his career @ Texas, he still made the tournament. Now can we say that at Tennessee?
D Smith, Knoxville'
Bama throwing out $22 million guaranteed to Marshall? Do they think they can buy a championship or something?
Link
Chris Holtman has a great agent. I'm not sure what his tie is to Tennessee but it paid serious dividends for him. I don't care what Butler says today.
Link
What the Cubs are doing with Kris Bryant is smart but it's dirty pool at the same time. They are building toward something there. The only question is what? They put so much money in these guys and this is only time an organization exacts control. Still, to not bring a guy with 10 home runs in 40 at bats in the Spring with the big club is kind of embarrassing.
North Carolina football remains an eyesore.
Link
Only St. Nick Saban can get away with this. Good thing he's not a in real market.
Link
Even Dukie V likes the pending hire.
Link
SEC is now a power league with the new additions.
Link
Final thought:
It's really hard not to be proud of the Lady Vols. THAT was a terrific effort versus a superior team. The Lady Vols were out manned yet played so hard. They just about willed their way to victory. Just couldn't buy a bucket down the stretch. There's never shame in losing when you leave it all out there. That's exactly what the Lady Vols did last night! I salute them today for their terrific effort. That's a team down two integral players from the beginning of the season coming a few buckets from a final four appearance. Nothing to sneeze at. Congrats to the Lady Vols.
Tony
Get the Droid App!
Share This Blog
