Rick Barnes is on the cusp of making it to the Final Four for the second time in his long coaching career. He’s looking to do it with a Tennessee program that’s never made it to the Final Four.
Standing in there way is top-seeded Purdue who knocked off the Vols back in the Maui Invitational and enter the Elite Eight with a 32-4 record.
Ahead of the Elite Eight matchup, Tennessee coach Rick Barnes met with the media in Detroit and discussed the challenges Purdue poses, the way he approaches an Elite Eight game compared to earlier in his career and much more. Here’s everything Barnes said.
More From RTI: Purdue Opens As Slight Favorites Against Tennessee In The Elite Eight
Opening statement
“Obviously we’re excited to be here and going up against a team that we played earlier in the year over in Honolulu. So they’re familiar with us, we’re familiar with them.
Going back to looking at that tape last night, both teams have improved a lot since then. It was a really hard-fought game over there, a lot of fouls called in the game. I don’t think there will be that many called here. Again, I’m really excited for these guys to have a chance and go back and play Purdue again.”
On the support that coaches have given him during this run
“People would be surprised just how many coaches we have really terrific relationships. Again, I’ve been doing it a long time and have had a chance to be around a lot of good people. I’ve really enjoyed watching what Matt Painter’s done to his program, how he’s built it and what he’s done to the consistency with it.
This time of year you’ll get texts from different people and all that, which I think every coach does. Again, having a chance to continue to play in a tournament that’s hard to advance through and get to this point is something that, again, these guys — we’re all proud of it, but we’d like to be able to keep moving, and it’s going to take a great effort to do that.”
On what he sees from Purdue’s players around Zach Edey
“He got in foul trouble over there, and those guys were the ones that did the damage. He’s got really great support around him, a cast of guys that they know each other. They run extremely well. They know how to play together. They know when to — he’s a great run stopper in Zach Edey. He’s a guy that, when you get something going, they can slow down, they know how to get him the ball, and he knows where he wants to catch the ball.
Again, Matt has done just a terrific job of putting the pieces around him that has got them to where they’ve been all year, which is basically the No. 1 team in the country, or 1, 2 team in the country, and the success he’s had the past couple of years.
It’s more difficult than you think, when you’ve got a guy as dominant as Zach is, to get those guys to understand how it’s got to be played, but he’s done a terrific job doing it.”
On both Purdue and Tennessee building their programs in an old school way
“Again, people can look at it any way they want, but I think that coaches, first of all, have to stay true to themselves in terms of what they believe in and their core values. You can’t get away from that.
There’s no doubt that he is a player development type coach. We pride ourselves on the same thing. I was talking earlier with someone how much Josiah, Santi, in the time they’ve been with us, has improved, and certainly has Zakai, but everybody on our team, I think we’ve all improved from the beginning of the year.
I just think you’ve got to be willing to make the adjustments from year to year that you look at your program, what do you need? We believe, like we think we have a terrific freshman class that, when these older guys leave and their time’s up, that they’re going to be able to slide in there. That’s what we’ve tried to build our program on.
Obviously these two guys to my left, we knew we needed to get offense out of the portal last year, and we were able to do that. I think, again, we’re going to continue to do what we think has been successful for us.”
On what it says about Zach Edey’s conditioning that he plays a lot of minutes at his size
“I think, when you look at Zach Edey from a coach’s standpoint and players too, you appreciate when someone gets better the way he has. He’s gotten better and better every year. He runs. We like to think you could get guys tired, but I think he moves extremely well.
I think that’s the difference in where he was a couple years ago. He’s really been able to move. He’s a good screener, but he knows exactly on the court where he wants to get his space and where he wants to set up, and they do a great job of getting it to him when he gets there.
But his improvement is what’s really impressive. I think the first time we played them, I think he missed a lot of free throws, if I remember. I think he missed a bunch. I wish he’d do it again. But there was a lot of fouls in that game. I think they shot 48 free throws. I think we shot a bunch too. He’s just improved. That’s what you admire about him. You admire players that get better from year to year.”
On if he can enjoy Zach Edey and Dalton Knecht playing one another with a spot on the Final Four on the line
“Well, when I look at that, I think that Purdue and Tennessee, those guys are great basketball players, but their supporting cast — I’m not sure if I’d call it a supporting cast, they’re teammates — are just as valuable.
Last night I thought that Zakai and Jahmai and Josiah especially, their leadership, their demeanor at the beginning of the game last night was exactly what we needed. When I look at Purdue, they’ve got the same thing with their key guys.
I don’t think anybody’s here because of — certainly Dalton has made a big impact on our basketball team, and Zach Edey, he’s had the spotlight on him forever. But it’s two really balanced teams that have depth, that I think you’re going to see — because we’ve played a lot of people over there. I think we played 10 or 11 people because we got in such foul trouble.
Both teams really, they’re more than just the main event that you’re talking about. Those guys, they deserved every honor that they’ve gotten, but both of them would tell you that they would defer to their teammates for helping them get what they’ve gotten done.”
On Jordan Gainey and Dalton Knecht improving since the first Purdue game
“He looked better today. He’s with us. We won’t obviously do very much today. We’ll just see really more so tomorrow, I think once we get going. We expect him to be ready.”
On referencing the officiating with Zach Edey, if he’s trying to make a statement before the game
“Well, based on the way the tournament is being called, about half of those fouls wouldn’t have been called, I can assure you of that.
But it’s early in the year. I’ve said all along the hardest thing about — when you start like we do every year, I’ve always thought we should be able to play more exhibition games to give referees a chance to get more experience before you get thrown into — like the Maui tournament this year, think of it, it was loaded. Some of the referees there hadn’t been in those type games in, what, six months.
Both teams played hard. If you go back and watch that, it was hard fought, that tournament was from start to finish. At the time, referees are getting started, we’re getting started. Did we foul? Yeah, we fouled some. Did they foul some? Yeah, they fouled some too. Did the referees miss some? Yeah, they missed some too.
But that was everybody getting started, and you really kind of expect that early in the year.”
On how Purdue feeds the ball inside
“The art of it, it’s got to be a team defense. Again, he’s a terrific player. Again, I admire anybody that knows where his space is to work and works hard to get there. Again, Matt has some great schemes to not let you see the same thing over and over, but he knows what he’s looking for, his teammates knows where he needs to get it, when he needs to get it.
So with that said, it takes five guys being connected defensively. Jahmai talked about ball pressure, important, because they’re such a good passing team, if you don’t try to take their vision away a little bit, they’re going to put it on the dime on time. But it’s taken all five guys to stay connected and work to try to make it as tough as possible.
Because he’s going to get his points. He’s too good a player. He understands his space so well. One of the hardest things to do is to keep him off the offensive boards. He’s a hard guy to guard when he misses his own shot.
It’s just a talent. He’s good at it. But it’s a very difficult — there’s not a drill for that. I wish there were, but there’s not. Great hands, and he’s right there at the rim. When they come off, he’s got a great way of getting it back and putting it back in.
He does a great job rebounding too. You’ve got to try to keep him from getting too close because he can get his hands on so many balls and slap them out. He’s a hard cover. He really is.”
On Pat Summitt saying the Elite Eight was the hardest round in the NCAA Tournament, if he would agree
“I think they’re all tough. First of all, getting into tournament stuff, it’s a grind to get there every year, but getting started, because of the pressure of being in it and you know your people around you, you feel it, especially for guys that haven’t been there.
Yet we’ve seen the magical runs by teams, the upsets and all that now with every seed winning a game at some point. Then the next one — so they’re all difficult.
The one thing is you continue to move. You know you’re playing against a team that’s playing well or they wouldn’t be where they are. Again, you’d like to think that most teams right now are playing at an extremely high level and hope that we can continue to do that.”
On how Tennessee’s commitment to basketball has grown during his tenure
“It’s been great. When Dave Hart hired me, the one thing he did say to me, he said, I’d like for you to really build a program, a program that we can watch grow. Obviously, I think when you talk about building a program, you’re talking about consistency, having a chance to be in the fight every year, and having a chance to be highly competitive.
Certainly in the league that we’re in, we’ve been given the resources, but from the time that Dave left, we’ve had different leadership, not just in the athletic department, but at the top of the university. I don’t think there’s a university in the country right now that has the leadership we have with Randy Boyd as our president of the UT system, and what Donde Plowman has done on campus is phenomenal. Danny White coming in, I don’t know he’s done it but he has totally transformed so much around our athletic program and our facilities.
So they deserve a lot of credit for setting the tone of where they want the University of Tennessee to be.”
On how hard the last few days have been for Santiago Vescovi
“Well, he was sick. You just had to look at him. We obviously tried to quarantine him as quick as we could to keep him away from the team, but when we were around him and he was seeing everything we were doing by Zoom in his room, knowing if there’s any way possible — Santi, as you guys know, has a great basketball IQ, and he knows what we’re doing as well as I know what we’re trying to get done.
He just couldn’t. He did break the fever, and we thought he was going to be okay, then the fever came back. But you could tell, just when we were around him, he looked like he had no energy. We hate it for him because he’s been such a huge part of the program and obviously is. I just hope today he feels like he’s got some energy back.”
On what it says about college basketball that Edey and Knecht have risen to the top of the sport in different ways
“I think — again, I don’t know Zach Edey that well, but just watching him and listening to him and knowing what I know about Matt — and I know Dalton obviously now after being with him for a year. Humility.
They have great humility and the fact that — again, when Dalton came on his visit, he didn’t ask about a big NIL. He didn’t talk about that. He didn’t talk about starting. He just said, I just want to be part of a program where players get better. I want to be around players that want to win. I want to help be part of an NCAA team and make a run in March, and I want to be coached hard.
Just watching Zach Edey and how he’s improved and knowing what I know about Matt, I think the word I would use with both of them is humility.”
On if he’s enjoying the moment more now than he did earlier in his career
“Well, yeah, you’re right. Years ago I know I didn’t enjoy it as much because I wanted to keep going further and further, and with that maybe in some ways put more pressure on guys than maybe they should have.
I do know this, it’s a players’ game. I know when we’re at this point we’ve done a lot — like today there’s not a lot to be done right now other than hopefully we can get great rest.
But I’ve never been able to really enjoy it a lot until it’s over with. I got back last night, went to bed at 3:00, woke up at 5:00. Just thinking, my mind not — I think that’s probably true of most coaches when you’re this time of year. Then my first thought was, when I saw those guys, I asked them how much sleep they got because it was — like I said last night, I thought we were playing Friday, Sunday, but we’re playing Saturday, Sunday really.
When you’re in the midst of it, it’s hard because you’ve just got to let it go real quick and get to the next. You’re obviously concerned about every one of your players. But you do have that feeling quickly after a win, there’s a — I don’t even know if I’d say it’s relief or whatever, but the fact that you’re excited for those guys, and yet excited for everyone involved. And your mind quickly shifts to what’s next.”
On Pat Summitt and the women’s program at Tennessee
“I was fortunate enough to know Pat. She and I were on the Converse committee together. We used to do a lot of clinics. One thing I really admired about her, we’d be at these clinics, she would sit on them and listen, and she always asked questions, and we talked about it.
Then we also used the Baden basketball, so we were around each other. She loved talking basketball. She loved it. She was a basketball coach. But yet what she built and has built has sustained at the University of Tennessee, and the fact that it was a program that was built on work, again, hearing the stories there.
And I’ve watched how hard Kellie Harper’s worked. Think about it. I think they’re the only team that’s gone to every single NCAA Tournament, which is unthinkable really, and to do what they’ve done with the kind of pressure that’s been there. Now their game has grown so much too.
Her legacy will be more than just those crystal balls. That’s a beautiful thing when you walk into women’s — her legacy goes far beyond that. Really in some ways a once in a lifetime coach, person, who truly made her mark.”
On Purdue being elite scoring inside and hitting perimeter jump shots
“Again, that’s what we were talking about with five guys that have got to be all connected. Edey, we could talk about him all day, but there’s so many other guys on that team we could talk about too who understand their role, do their job. You really have to be in the relentless pursuit of sustaining your effort within a possession.
You turn your back, you turn your head, you stop for a split second, .5 seconds, they’re moving around, searching out the three-point line, back cutting. They know how to play basketball. Again, so well coached. It takes five guys willing to make a sustained effort for possession after possession after possession, going from play to play to play.”
On if Purdue is a team on a mission or along for the ride
“I think they’ve been business-like, I do. From the time, even over in Maui, again, that tournament — think about it, in three days we played Syracuse, Purdue, and Kansas. It’s just a great tournament over there.
I’ve always thought that, when you have — when you’re talking about building programs, I think it’s always a business approach to it, a work ethic approach to it, knowing that every time you go out you’ve got a chance to get better, be better, to try to build to these type moments.”
On how bad the scheduling has been by the NCAA with this quick of a turn around
“You think about all that sometimes, but regardless of what it is, you’re probably, what, if I say we went to bed last night at — our guys, I think Josiah told me he was in bed at 4:00, I would imagine the Purdue players watched our game and doing what guys do, probably in bed at 1:30, 2:00. So there’s probably a two-hour window there one way or the other.
The difference is the other game, the second game is being played in Central time zone probably. But it is what it is. You deal with it. They’re young guys. One of our big things will be recovery, and I’m sure Purdue the same thing because we know it’s going to be a hard-fought game.
So a big part of today and even last night, and one of the reasons we were late getting out of here last night, we have three or four guys, they love to take ice baths. We had to wait on those guys. They jump in it about seven to ten minutes. So it’s all about recovery and doing what we need to do to be ready.”
On Dalton Knecht balancing scoring and setting up his teammates
“I told him last night when he took a couple of shots, I said, you’re going to have to spray that ball. But when he makes a couple, he’s like any guys that can score, he’ll gonna do the old heat check and see if it’s going.
But we believe in balance in the flow of the game, we’re expecting those guys to play off the concepts that we talk about, work on from day one. On dead balls, yeah, we can make calls and get shots and do those type things, knowing full well that Purdue did a great job of having us scouted. There’s not going to be a lot of easy shots, and you’re going to have to take some tough shots and contest the shots and hope you can make them. We’ve got a couple guys that can do that.
Dalton and I have had that discussion when he needs to facilitate, and he’s really adjusted well to it. He does. He’s not a selfish player at all. But sometimes, too, you know that you’ve got to get a guy like that going. So last night early we started the game running a set for him to try to get it going. Tomorrow night we might go a different way.
But what’s gotten us to this point, we’ve got to just try to hope that it is enough, and we’ve got to execute it at a high level.”
On how SEC play helped Jonas Aidoo and Tobe Awaka’s development
“Well, our conference this year, again, I think, when you look at our league — and I say it, everyone says their league is the best, this, that, and whatever. But our league, going into the last week of the season, there was a possibility of having a five-way tie for first place. Coming down the stretch, we had to play Texas A&M, Alabama, Auburn, South Carolina, all those back to back.
We know each other so well, and it’s so hard to get clean looks. It’s just hard because in a conference that’s what makes it so difficult. Coaches know each other. We just know each other, and it’s hard.
So that along with, again, our non-league schedule. We felt that we had put together a great schedule at the beginning of the year. Again, I thought it hurt us because we weren’t able to develop our young players because we were in so many one, two-possession games that we weren’t able to get those guys out there as much as we would have liked to.
But our league is — when I first got there, it was a very athletic league, strong, physical league. It has changed now where it’s not only that, we’ve gotten so much more skilled in our league. Great coaches. Again, I think there’s always been terrific coaches in the SEC and college basketball in general. But it’s just I really think more of a commitment from universities that maybe hadn’t done it in the past where every time you go out on the court, you know you’re going to be challenged. There’s a great deal of physicality in our league.”
On if there was any indication that Josiah-Jordan James was about to start making shots
“No, I think the one thing as coaches, we all wish we could coach making shots going in anyway. When you start doing that — but when you work, Josiah is one of those guys, like Dalton, like Zakai, just hours and hours in the gym by himself. I thought his mindset was just terrific yesterday.
You’ve seen this. He’s capable of doing it. Right now is when you’d like to see them all go in, but as long as he’s taking good shots — and I will say this. When it leaves his hand, when he’s set up the way we want him to get set up, we think it is going in.
I just hope he can continue with the mindset he’s got going right now because he was just terrific on defense last night.”
On the challenges of containing Purdue’s guards
“Again, team defense, you’ve got to have it. Again, I’m not sure those guys maybe get all the attention they should because I’ve watched a lot of attention go to Dalton, where we’ve got guys on our team that make so many winning plays, things that don’t show up in a stat, like Jahmai Mashack, the stuff he does that doesn’t show up on the scouting report is really amazing.
Even Zakai, some things that he does, Josiah, Santi, those guys. I look at Purdue players the same way. They’ve got guys out there that maybe aren’t talked about as much as people might know, but when you watch them, getting ready to play against them, you have the utmost respect for them because of how hard they play and how hard they work at doing their job.”
