What this program has become under Rick Barnes. How awesome is this? Really think about. Is Rick a perfect coach? No. No coach is but he is absolutely in that tier of coaches that is truly considered "Extremely good."
His first 2 seasons can't be held against him. The program was in shambles post Cuonzo who didn't recruit his final 2 years and then Donnie T. No transfer portal either. Rick decided to recruit 3-4 year culture guys to build it.
Year 1- 15-19 which was considered good for that team and they were in a lot of games they had no business being in truthfully. That roster was rough.
Year 2- 16-16 and 8-10 in conference with a bunch of kids.
Year 3- 26-9 and won SEC Title. Then went to SECT Championship (in line to win it BTW before Admiral cramped with a few minutes left). 3 seed. Hearts ripped out one of the luckier shots you will see in NCAAT. Swept Kentucky.
Year 4- 31-6 beat #1 Gonzaga. SEC Champ game. 2 seed. Elite taken from us by the refs on a leg kick bail out. Beat Kentucky twice when they were Top 5.
Year 5- 17-14 and 9-9 in a year with Grant and Bone going early which we were not built for (no portal) and Lamonte left a few games in. Covid happened and didn't let us maybe win a game or 2 in the SEC T and get in the Dance. This was a down year where everything lined up in a negative way. If Bone doesn't make a bad decision that is a 21 type win team.
Year 6- 18-9 and 10-7. Weird Covid year. Top 10 for a lot of it. Then faded.
Year 7- 23-7 and 14-4. 3 Top 5 wins. 2 seed in SECT and 2/3 seed in NCAAT.
Year 8- Most likely Pre-season Top 10. Possibly Top 5 in Kennedy returns.
Barnes at UT is 146-80 for a 65% win percentage. That is with 2 rebuilding years due to what his predecessors left. This was not Bruce Pearl (who I love and UT owes a lot basketball wise) walking into Chris Lofton, CJ Watson and JaJuan Smith.
He owns Kentucky, Florida and Vanderbilt. He has won a ton of Top 10 games. He has recruited well. The culture of our team is unmatched. He is awesome with the fans and active in the community.
I post this because- there will always be frustrating times with any coach. But this was a pretty special year so far with a real chance for more.
His first 2 seasons can't be held against him. The program was in shambles post Cuonzo who didn't recruit his final 2 years and then Donnie T. No transfer portal either. Rick decided to recruit 3-4 year culture guys to build it.
Year 1- 15-19 which was considered good for that team and they were in a lot of games they had no business being in truthfully. That roster was rough.
Year 2- 16-16 and 8-10 in conference with a bunch of kids.
Year 3- 26-9 and won SEC Title. Then went to SECT Championship (in line to win it BTW before Admiral cramped with a few minutes left). 3 seed. Hearts ripped out one of the luckier shots you will see in NCAAT. Swept Kentucky.
Year 4- 31-6 beat #1 Gonzaga. SEC Champ game. 2 seed. Elite taken from us by the refs on a leg kick bail out. Beat Kentucky twice when they were Top 5.
Year 5- 17-14 and 9-9 in a year with Grant and Bone going early which we were not built for (no portal) and Lamonte left a few games in. Covid happened and didn't let us maybe win a game or 2 in the SEC T and get in the Dance. This was a down year where everything lined up in a negative way. If Bone doesn't make a bad decision that is a 21 type win team.
Year 6- 18-9 and 10-7. Weird Covid year. Top 10 for a lot of it. Then faded.
Year 7- 23-7 and 14-4. 3 Top 5 wins. 2 seed in SECT and 2/3 seed in NCAAT.
Year 8- Most likely Pre-season Top 10. Possibly Top 5 in Kennedy returns.
Barnes at UT is 146-80 for a 65% win percentage. That is with 2 rebuilding years due to what his predecessors left. This was not Bruce Pearl (who I love and UT owes a lot basketball wise) walking into Chris Lofton, CJ Watson and JaJuan Smith.
He owns Kentucky, Florida and Vanderbilt. He has won a ton of Top 10 games. He has recruited well. The culture of our team is unmatched. He is awesome with the fans and active in the community.
I post this because- there will always be frustrating times with any coach. But this was a pretty special year so far with a real chance for more.
