Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes reached a milestone in his Tennessee tenure Saturday night. The Vols’ 73-63 win over LSU at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center marked the 250th win as Tennessee’s head coach.
Barnes now has a 250-116 record during his time in Knoxville. He has 854 total wins in his 39 years as a college basketball head coach. Barnes ranks 11th all-time in wins amongst men’s college basketball head coaches and third amongst active head coaches behind only Rick Pitino and John Calipari.
“When I got here, I think people told me everybody thought I was coming here to retire, which I want to coach basketball,” Barnes said Saturday night. “I love coaching. I’ve got a great staff. I love what we have going here. We can get so much better. We’re excited about our young guys. We hope, obviously, to keep them all. And what I didn’t know growing up three hours from here is the love for Tennessee basketball.”
The veteran head coach is in his 11th season as Tennessee’s head coach. His first win was a four-point victory over UNC Asheville in November 2015. That largely illustrates a shaky first two years for Barnes in the pre transfer portal era.
More From RTI: Ethan Burg’s Maturity Leads To Breakout Outing In Tennessee Basketball Win Over LSU
Tennessee combined to go 31-35 in Barnes’ first two seasons, failing to make the NCAA Tournament each year. But Barnes’ third Tennessee team is the one that turned the program around. Picked 13th in the SEC preseason poll, the 2017-18 Vols earned a share of the SEC Regular-Season Championship and kickstarted the program.
The Vols have made seven straight NCAA Tournaments since, twice advancing to the Elite Eight with two more trips to the Sweet 16. Barnes’ Tennessee teams have won two SEC Regular-Season Championships and the program’s first SEC Tournament Championship since 1979.
“Basketball wise, it’s been unbelievable,” Barnes said. “But I’m blessed. I mean, I really believe God brought me here for a reason, and I’m thankful for it. I’m thankful for the players that we coach. It was great seeing Robert Hubbs tonight. He was here for the first win that we ever had, and we were back there talking when we had started 11 years ago, and it’s really hard to believe it’s been 11 years. And I’m just thankful to God for the opportunity and the blessing.”
Tennessee is Barnes’ fifth stop as a head coach. He won 20 games in his lone year at George Mason, 108 games in six years at Providence, 74 games in four years at Clemson and 402 games and reached the Final Four in his 17 years at Texas.
Following its win over LSU Saturday night, Barnes’ 11th team in Knoxville now boasts an 18-7 (8-4 SEC) record and is nearly a lock to make an eighth straight NCAA Tournament appearance this March.
