Rick Barnes – Syndication Server

Rick Barnes discusses Ohio State transfer Felix Okpara signing with Vols

Tennessee basketball head coach Rick Barnes discusses Ohio State transfer Felix Okpara signing with the Vols.

Tennessee announced the signing of Ohio State sophomore transfer Felix Okpara on Thursday.

“We are thrilled to have Felix join us here on Rocky Top,” Tennessee basketball head coach Rick Barnes said. “He comes from a great family and is an exceptional teammate whose primary goal is to win. Felix is an elite shot blocker, high-level defender and terrific rebounder. He possesses the ability to score in the low post, as well as play on the perimeter. A mobile athlete with excellent length who creates space offensively, Felix is a constant threat to get to the rim for a lob. We will do everything we can to help him further develop all aspects of his game.”

Okpara appeared in 70 games, including 45 starts, from 2022-24. He averaged 5.3 points, five rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. He also recorded 126 blocks and 28 steals for the Buckeyes.

The 6-foot-11, 235-pound forward is from Lagos, Nigeria.

Vols defeat Saint Peter’s to open NCAA Tournament

Tennessee defeats Saint Peter’s to open NCAA Tournament.

No. 2 seed Tennessee (25-8, 14-4 SEC) defeated No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s (19-14, 12-8 MAAC), 83-49, in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The Vols led, 46-20, at halftime and never trailed in the contest.

The win ended Tennessee’s two-game losing streak. It was also Rick Barnes’ 200th victory as the Vols’ head coach.

Tennessee, one of eight SEC teams to make the NCAA Tournament, was the only team to win on Thursday. South Carolina, Mississippi State and Kentucky all lost.

Auburn, Florida, Texas A&M and Alabama will all play on Friday.

Dalton Knecht led the Vols with 23 points against Saint Peter’s. He also totaled eight rebounds and one assist, while Jonas Aidoo recorded 15 points, six rebounds, three blocks and one assist.

Zakai Zeigler recorded 11 points and 10 assists for Tennessee.

Latrell Reid led the Peacocks with 17 points.

Tennessee will next play Saturday against Texas in the second-round.

Rick Barnes named finalist for Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award

Rick Barnes named a finalist for the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award.

Rick Barnes is one of 20 finalists for the 2023-24 Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award.

Barnes guided the Vols to a 24-8 (14-4 SEC) record and the Southeastern Conference regular-season championship during the 2023-24 campaign.

The Jim Phelan Award winner is determined by a 10-member voting committee and includes current and former head coaches, as well as CollegeInsider.com staff members.

Barnes is one of three SEC head coaches who are finalists for the award (Bruce Pearl, Auburn, Lamont Paris, South Carolina).

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Tennessee is a No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament.

The Vols will play No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s Thursday at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Tipoff is slated for 9:20 p.m. EDT and will be televised on TNT.

What Texas’ tournament draw means for its postseason chances

The Longhorns couldn’t have asked for a better first weekend than their 2024 tournament draw.

The Texas Longhorns (20-12) have been a frustrating team to watch on the basketball court this season. From inconsistent offense to lackluster defense, the team has looked disjointed for much of the year.

Despite the above concerns, this season’s tournament draw gives Texas a chance to reach the Sweet 16.

Winning in the NCAA tournament isn’t easy as Texas knows well. The program is 39-40 all-time in the NCAA tournament. That resume includes plenty of first round exits. The Longhorns suffered losses to the likes of No. 11 seed Northern Iowa, No. 14 Abilene Christian and No. 11 Nevada when Shaka Smart led the team.

Chris Beard and Rodney Terry had better success as head coaches in Austin. Beard earned the team’s first NCAA tournament victory since 2014 in his first season. Terry took Texas to its first Elite Eight since 2009.

The dysfunction for the current squad is more reminiscent of the Smart era than the last two tournament runs. Albeit, the Longhorns’ potential opponents provide matchups that could give Texas a chance to win a couple of games.

Texas is set to play the winner of the No. 10 seed play-in game between the Virginia Cavaliers and Colorado State Rams. Some question whether or not the Cavaliers should be in the tournament given their lackluster resume. The two teams weren’t worthy of a tournament bye. They were among the last teams in the field. That favors Texas.

Stylistically, some suggest Virginia’s suffocating defense is a bad matchup for Texas. If the Longhorns run through guard Max Abmas they could certainly see the matchup go in Virginia’s favor. Abmas isn’t very tall or fast and seems to have limited vertical jump. While an effective scorer, his lack of ability to create space for himself has created issues not only in consistent scoring but in protecting the basketball.

Despite the issues Virginia’s defense present, the Cavaliers’ offensive limitations were enough to keep them on the bubble. Should Texas get high scoring forward Dylan Disu and efficient forward Dillon Mitchell shot opportunities in the first game, they could advance to face the No. 2 Tennessee Volunteers.

Tennessee, like Texas, did not have the most impressive entrance to the tournament. The Volunteers lost to the Mississippi State Bulldogs in their first SEC tournament game, 73-56.

While Mississippi State is a good team, Tennessee’s launch to March Madness is similar to how it has fared in the NCAA tournament. Barnes’ squads have struggled in the postseason since he took over at Tennessee. The Vols should be favored in the potential matchup, but the Longhorns would have an opportunity to win.

There is plenty of reason to doubt Texas entering the weekend. The inconsistent product is among the top concerns. Even so, if the team was going to make another Sweet 16 appearance you would expect their tournament draw to look like it looks this year.

Rick Barnes discusses winning 2024 SEC title

Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes discusses winning 2024 SEC title.

No. 4 Tennessee (24-6, 14-3 SEC) won the 2024 Southeastern Conference championship outright on Wednesday.

The Vols defeated No. 16 South Carolina (24-6, 12-5 SEC), 66-59, on Wednesday at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina.

Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes discussed winning the SEC regular-season championship.

“My first thoughts are, I thank the good Lord for giving me the opportunity to be around a group of guys like this,” Barnes said. “I truly have enjoyed being with them every day. On days when I was probably a little bit upset with them, I realized there is something special about them. Because I felt they had my same feeling, they were disappointed when I was disappointed, they knew that we needed to get better.

“When you have a group of guys, especially Santi (Vescovi) and Josiah (James), who were with us trying to get this thing back on track five years ago, going through the Covid, going through everything, just so much respect for them. Then, Z (Zakai Zeigler) coming in, Jahmai (Mashack) and Jonas (Aidoo), all that group. It’s not easy to win a championship, it’s not. For them to do it, and it was something they set their sights on. For them to come and do it the way we had to do it, on the road with this finishing schedule, I think it speaks volumes about them.”

PHOTOS: Tennessee basketball wins 2024 SEC championship

PHOTOS: Vols win 2024 SEC regular-season basketball championship

No. 4 Tennessee (24-6, 14-3 SEC) defeated No. 16 South Carolina (24-6, 12-5 SEC), 66-59, on Wednesday at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina.

The Vols won the 2024 Southeastern Conference championship.

Tennessee has won six outright regular-season SEC championships: 1935-36, 1940-41, 1942-43, 1966-67, 2007-08 and 2023-24.

“My first thoughts are, I thank the good Lord for giving me the opportunity to be around a group of guys like this,” Tennessee head coach Rock Barnes said. “I truly have enjoyed being with them every day. On days when I was probably a little bit upset with them, I realized there is something special about them. Because I felt they had my same feeling, they were disappointed when I was disappointed, they knew that we needed to get better.”

Below are photos from Tennessee’s championship win at South Carolina on Wednesday.

Rick Barnes records 800th win as a head coach

Rick Barnes records 800th win as a head coach.

No. 5 Tennessee (21-6, 11-3 SEC) defeated Texas A&M (15-12, 6-8 SEC), 86-51, Saturday at Food City Center.

The Vols led, 37-27, at halftime.

It was Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes’ 800th career victory as a head coach. The win also avenged an earlier loss to the Aggies this season. Barnes is the 15th coach in NCAA Division I history to win 800 games.

Dalton Knecht totaled 24 points and seven rebounds for the Vols, while Jonas Aidoo posted another solid performance, recording a double-double as he had 18 points and 14 rebounds.

Tobe Awaka finished with 12 points and six rebounds. Zakai Zeigler recorded nine points, 14 assists, nine rebounds and four steals, while not committing a turnover.

Wade Taylor IV and Tyrece Radford each scored 11 points to lead the Aggies.

Tennessee men’s basketball coach Rick Barnes can’t get over upset loss to Texas A&M

“I’m going to put a new drill in. Anytime you see a coach on the floor, you have to run over him. You have to hit him,” Barnes said Monday.

The Texas A&M men’s basketball team upset No. 6 Tennessee on Saturday night at Reed Arena 85-69.

Unlike the Aggies’ other Top 10 win from earlier this season in overtime against No. 6 Kentucky, the margin of victory was decisive. However, if you ask Volunteers head coach Rick Barnes, the game’s outcome was swayed by Texas A&M head coach Buzz Williams accidentally entering the court during live play.

“Absolutely should have been a technical foul. Absolutely, 100%,” Barnes said Monday night during Vol Calls, the exclusive statewide radio show for Tennessee Athletics. “Tobe (Awaka) avoided him. I’m going to put a new drill in. Anytime you see a coach on the floor, you have to run over him. You have to hit him. Don’t avoid him. That was a ridiculous play.

“That’s a blatant technical foul and you’ve got to call it. They just said they’d take care of it, but they had already been warned about being out of the box and all sorts of things. It’s just a missed call.”

In the spirit of continuing to disregard the fact that the final score was separated by 16 points, Barnes continued his rant.

“If officials don’t do their job in that situation and they let one coach start doing this or that, it’s going to wake up the other coach and they’re going to have their hands full,” Barnes said. “From the beginning, if you just make it clear — and I don’t think any coach has a problem when you gotta walk out of the box to get closer to halfcourt to maybe have your team hear you or something. I don’t think that, but you can’t be on the court. If you feel like someone is constantly abusing it, because I know this, they won’t let that happen in the NCAA Tournament. Believe me. When the tournament rolls around, the one thing they say (is), ‘You’ve got to stay in the box. You’ve got to stay in the box.’ They’re adamant about it.”

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Everything Buzz Williams, Wade Taylor IV and Tyrece Radford had to say after Texas A&M’s 85-69 win over No. 6 Tennessee

See what Texas A&M HC Buzz Williams, Wade Taylor IV, and Tyrece Redford had to say after the Aggie’s huge win over No. 6 Tennessee.

Texas A&M (15-8, 6-4 SEC) is now one of the hottest teams in the SEC after blowing out the visiting No. 6-ranked Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday night to the tune of 85-69, led guards Tyrece Radford (27 points) and Wade Taylor IV (25 points), who have played by far their best basketball at the most important time of the season.

While the Aggie’s defense was stifling, head coach Buzz Williams’ offensive adjustments led to shooting an impressive 46.7% from the field, including 39.3% from beyond the arc, hitting 11 3-pointers compared to their average six per game in SEC play entering the matchup.

While Radford and Taylor were borderline elite, forwards Solomon Washington (11 points, 7 rebounds) and Andersson Garcia (6 points, 17 rebounds) did all the dirty work inside, as Garcia’s incredible two-game stretch includes a gaudy 33 rebounds in the span of three days.

With the win, Texas A&M now holds a 5-4 Quad 1 record, and if Florida continues its winning ways, the Aggie’s recent victory over the Gators would turn into yet another Quad 1 win.

After the game, Buzz Williams, alongside Tyrece Radford and Wade Taylor IV, spoke to the media. At the same time, Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes also provided his opinion on the Aggies making the NCAA Tournament.

Here is what they had to say.

PHOTOS: Tennessee wins at Kentucky for fourth time under Rick Barnes

PHOTOS: Tennessee wins at Kentucky for the fourth time under Rick Barnes

No. 5 Tennessee (16-5, 6-2 SEC) defeated No. 8 Kentucky (15-6, 5-4 SEC), 103-92, at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky on Saturday.

Rankings reflect the USA TODAY Sports Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll.

Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes is now 13-11 all time versus Kentucky head coach John Calipari, including 11-9 during the regular-season.

Barnes has defeated Kentucky four times at Rupp Arena during his Tennessee head coaching tenure.

“This was a high possession game, and Kentucky is lethal,” Barnes said. “When they get out on a run and get down the floor, they really attack. We play fast. That’s what we talk about, so I knew it was going to be a high possession game without a question.

“It goes back to what I’ve said, each game takes on its own personality, but we knew coming in here would be a lot of up and down, and a lot of shots.”

Below are photos of Tennessee’s win versus Kentucky at Rupp Arena.