Assistant basketball coach Rod Clark is leaving Tennessee basketball to join Darian DeVries staff at Indiana, Jon Rothstein first reported on Wednesday.
“My family and I are overwhelmed with gratitude stemming from our time here at the University of Tennessee,” Clark wrote in a statement. “It means so much that my two little girls were born here, as my wife and I always felt an overwhelming amount of love and support from the community. As we say our goodbyes, I would like to thank Coach Barnes, the staff, our administration, the fans and every player we were blessed to go out and compete with. Thank you, Vol nation, for four of the best years of my life. Rocky Top is a special place and we will miss Knoxville dearly. GBO!”
Tennessee coach Rick Barnes hired Clark following the 2020-21 season after the Vols lost assistant coach Kim English, who left to become the new George Mason head coach, and Desmond Oliver— who left to become the head coach at ETSU.
Clark’s four seasons at Tennessee have aligned with one of the best four-year stretches in program history. The Vols won the 2022 SEC Tournament, made it to the 2023 Sweet 16, won the SEC Regular-Season Championship in 2024 and have made back-to-back Elite Eights. Tennessee had made the Elite Eight just one time in school history beforehand.
The 32-year old assistant coach is renowned for his recruiting ability and was perhaps the top recruiting assistant on Tennessee’s staff. Clark was the lead recruiter for Dalton Knecht as Tennessee basketball landed what proved to be the best player in the transfer portal and one of the best player in the country two seasons ago. Clark was also the lead recruiter for Chaz Lanier last season.
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Clark joins Darian DeVries’ staff at Indiana as the former West Virginia coach left Morgantown after just one year to become head coach at Indiana earlier this offseason. Prior to his time at Tennessee, Clark had spent time as an assistant coach at Illinois-Chicago and Austin Peay.
Losing an assistant coach is nothing new for Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes. Current associate head coach Justin Gainey becomes the longest tenured assistant coach. He joined Barnes’ staff at the same time as Clark when English and Oliver each got head coaching jobs.
Then associate head coach Mike Schwartz left a year later to become East Carolina’s head coach and Barnes promoted Gregg Polinsky to a full-time assistant coach job. Former Tennessee walk-on Lucas Campbell and Bryan Lentz are the other assistant coaches on the Vols’ staff,
Tennessee is in the midst of filling out its roster ahead of the 2025-26 season. The Vols currently have one scholarships available as they look to add player in the transfer portal.
