Rick Barnes previews Tennessee in NCAA Tournament

Tennessee (18-8) will play in the 2021 NCAA Tournament as a No. 5 seed in the Midwest region. The NCAA selection committee announced Sunday that the Vols will play in the first-round against 12th-seeded Oregon State. The Vols and Beavers will play …

On John Fulkerson’s mentality over the last 24-48 hours:
“It’s been great. Obviously, you can only imagine how much he wants to be out there. If he could, he would. I know that he’ll be back tonight and he’ll be on the buses with us tomorrow. I’ve said it before that it’s never about him. It’s never going to be about John Fulkerson. He wants his teammates to win and he wants to be a part of it. No one is pulling for him more than his teammates. They love him and they want to see him have a chance to be successful, because they know how hard he’s worked during his time here and that he’s helped them get to where they are right now.”

On Santi looking more energetic lately:
“I think that week off helped a lot of guys with nagging injuries. We’ve talked about how we’re going to go about this week and a lot of that is just trying to keep as much of that stuff in check as we can. I think the more consistent Keon and Jaden and the guys around him can get—Yves Pons was terrific. I didn’t see the SEC All-Tournament team, but if he didn’t we need to re-vote it. He was just unbelievable with how good he was in so many facets of the game. I do think with Santi the time off helped him. If any of you all have had a hip problem, it can be a problem. Like I said, I think it has helped all of those guys.”

NEXT: Rick Barnes previews NCAA Tournament continued