Tag: Rick Barnes

Rick Barnes previews Tennessee-Appalachian State

Tennessee plays Appalachian State Tuesday at Thompson-Boling Arena.

No. 10 Tennessee (2-0) hosts Appalachian State Tuesday at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. EST. SEC Network will televise the contest.

The Vols are 5-0 all-time against Appalachian State, dating back to 1986.

Ahead of the matchup, Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes previewed the game. Below is a transcript provided by the University of Tennessee.

On how important the next four games are, to establish a rotation:
“I think it’s important, and obviously we’re just hoping we can get them in. I do think the more we can play right now—before the last game we talked about how long it seemed like we had practiced, how long it had been since we played, so it’s going to be important. These minutes are going to be very important, and the guys have to understand that it’s about us getting better and having great respect for our opponent. But those minutes aren’t going to be given to anybody. They’re going to be minutes that are earned starting in practice. That’s how we’re going to move forward.”

On what attributes are valuable in a sixth man:
“Once you go to that player, they elevate everything. They bring an energy to the court. You know they’re going to make something happen, whether it’s offensively or defensively. Versatility, and again often times that’s the guy that’s the quote un quote sixth man. He’s a guy that at the end of the game is going to finish the game for you as a starter because of the fact that he can do so many things and make so many things happen for you.”

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Rick Barnes recaps Tennessee’s win against Cincinnati

Tennessee defeated Cincinnati, 65-56.

Tennessee’s men’s basketball team returned to action Saturday for its second game of the 2020-21 season.

The Vols (2-0) defeated Cincinnati, 65-56, at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Following the contest, Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes recapped the Vols’ performance against Cincinnati. Below is a transcript provided by the University of Tennessee.

Dec 12, 2020; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Rick Barnes talks to his team during a timeout in the first half against the Cincinnati Bearcats at Thompson-Boling Arena. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

On both the team’s rebounding and Fulkerson’s performance:
“We have a different team in terms of we do think that we have multiple guys that can drive the ball, and we haven’t had a lot of that in the past couple of years. We’ve played two teams now, for foul trouble reasons, that have had to go to zone probably more so than they both want to play. We haven’t had a lot of time to work against a lot of different type zones, but today what we simply said was, ‘Hey, we’re going to attack. We’re going to get in there.’ We missed some shots that we feel we normally make. We felt like we turned down some shots from the perimeter. Yet, we talk about a lot. We want our team to have an identity of rebounding, and that means getting a good shot up on the glass and going to get it and trying to get multiple shots at it. Coming down the stretch, Fulky did do a good job. He wasn’t very good early. He wasn’t locked in defensively at the start of the game. I took him out early because he didn’t block out, and that’s something we said early. We’re going to hold everybody accountable. You’re going to block out. You’re going to rebound the ball. We subbed a couple of times for guys that were going the other way before we had the ball, but he did answer coming down the stretch. I think our guys understand what. We’re trying to do at the end of the game. In the last two games, we’re able to make the free throws. We did a good job taking care of the ball, but there’s a couple that we gave them that turned into pick-sixes. There’s nothing we can do with that. You take away three or four plays defensively where we gambled in the backcourt and let them go all the way. Overall, I would say we were pretty good defensively. We played hard defensively without fouling.”

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Rick Barnes recaps Vols’ win against Colorado

Tennessee defeated Colorado, 56-47.

Tennessee (1-0) opened its 2020-21 men’s basketball season Tueaday at Thompson-Boling Arena.

The Vols defeated Colorado, 56-47, in front of 4,191 in attendance.

Tennessee will return to action Saturday, hosting Cincinnati at 12:30 p.m. EST. The contest will be televised by SEC Network Alternate Channel.

Following Tennessee’s win over the Buffaloes, head coach Rick Barnes met with media. Below is a transcript from Barnes’ press conference provided by the University of Tennessee.

Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes calls in the first half during a season-opener game between Tennessee and Colorado at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn. on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020.

© Caitie McMekin/Pool via News Sentinel via Imagn Content Services, LLC

On what happened at 10 minutes in the first half when Colorado went zone:
“I thought once we were trying to figure out some substitution patterns, we knew going into the game tonight it would be first time we had our team on the same bench and we talked about it long and hard trying to figure out what would be the best way to do it to give every guy a chance to play well when they went out there and we definitely lost some of our rhythm, we started having some defensive breakdowns where when we were in some switching situations on the other end and we turned the ball over trying to do too much. They went zone and I don’t think that is what Tad wants to do, but he was willing to stay in it until we hurt it, which we never really did, and we wanted to get the ball in the middle which is what we have always done with it. I thought once we started missing those shots we had guys that were really hesitant to shoot those shots we needed to take and it affected us on the defensive end too where we got back on our heels, but you know they are going to make a run because they are too good of a team. We came out and got our transition going and doing a lot of good things, but once we started our substitute pattern that we have not had one bit of practice doing, that caught up with us and to take nothing away from them at all because I thought it was a really smart move on him to go zone because we haven’t had enough days since we were shut down to spend as much time on our zone offense as we had previously before we got shut down ourselves and we just weren’t sharp there. We got very hesitant and that’s something I am not concerned about, my biggest concern would be the fact that we didn’t rebound the ball the way we have to, to be the team we want to be, and that is probably the biggest disappointment is we didn’t rebound the ball the way we needed to.”

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Rick Barnes previews Tennessee-Colorado

Tennessee plays Colorado Tuesday.

After five cancellations, Tennessee will open the 2020-21 men’s basketball season Tuesday.

The Vols will play Colorado at Thompson-Boling Arena. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. EST at Thompson-Boling Arena and the game will be streamed on SEC Network+.

Ahead of Tuesday’s game, Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes met with media and discussed the matchup. Below is a transcript provided by the University of Tennessee.

Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes and assistant coach Michael Schwartz in the final seconds of the game against Georgia Tech on Wednesday, November 14, 2018.

Kns Vols Bball 1113

On how far behind the team is after missing the first few games of the season:
“I think we’re behind, because like I said earlier, we had a chance to go up and down the floor three times in two weeks leading into tomorrow. I do think the older guys can handle it, more so than the younger guys. Our younger guys, the stops and starts have definitely affected them more in terms of their recall and being able to understand what we’re doing. Overall, I’ve got to think that these guys, I know they’re excited about playing. We got back early Friday and we went twice that day just to break it up, because we knew they would struggle with stamina. It’s just a tough practice when you’ve been off two weeks. They handled it well, and then we found out that the game with (UT) Martin would be canceled. By the next morning, we were in contact with Colorado and knew that maybe that was a possibility, so we had to readjust our schedule as opposed to practicing Friday and Saturday. We had to flip it where we little very little at all on Saturday, even though the game wasn’t totally submitted yet, to put us on our two-day prep that we like to do throughout the season. We are on schedule to that. This is the first time our young guys have gone through this. Normally, by now we would’ve had a two-day prep to get ready for an exhibition game. We don’t have any of that, and because of that we haven’t had the whole team on the bench together. Tomorrow, all that is going to be new to those guys. Even though we had started preparing prior to the shutdown to get ready for Charlotte and VCU. Today is actually the first time we have been able to do what we normally would do, and tomorrow will be the first time that we’ve had our whole team together on the same bench. Our substitutions, we can think about it, we don’t know how it’s going to play out. We don’t know foul situations, so our older guys will handle it better than you would expect, but the younger guys are going to have to learn on the fly. They’re going to be nervous. They don’t know exactly what to expect. We appreciate Colorado doing what they’re doing for us, and we were able to put this together quickly and we have a lot of respect.”

On if he will have everyone available for the game vs. Colorado:
“We’ll have two guys that won’t be playing. Corey Walker and Drew Pember.”

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Vols add home game against Pac-12 opponent

Vols add home game against Pac-12 opponent to 2020 schedule.

After five cancellations, No. 13 Tennessee will open the 2020-21 men’s basketball season Dec. 8.

The Vols have added Colorado (2-0) to its schedule. Tipoff between Tennessee and Colorado is slated for 6 p.m. EST at Thompson-Boling Arena.

The game will be streamed on SEC Network+.

Tennessee is 2-0 all-time against the Buffaloes with wins in Knoxville (1980) and Boulder (1981).

Vols’ head coach Rick Barnes is 13-4 against Colorado in his career.

Tennessee is 19-11 all-time against current member institutions of the Pac-12. UT’s most recent game against a Pac-12 opponent resulted in a 75-62 win against Washington during last season’s James Naismith Classic in Toronto.

Colorado head coach Tad Boyle served as Tennessee’s director of basketball operations under Jerry Green during the 1997-98 season. Green was Tennessee’s head coach from 1997-2001.

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Tennessee men’s basketball: Volunteer Classic canceled

The Volunteer Classic has been canceled.

The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team was scheduled to tipoff the 2020-21 season Wednesday at Thompson-Boling Arena.

UT announced Monday it would pause all team activities following positive COVID-19 test results among its Tier 1 personnel, which consists of coaches, student-athletes, team managers and support staff.

Vols’ head coach Rick Barnes is one of the individuals who returned a positive test. He has entered isolation protocol.

UT has since announced that the Vols’ first two games, part of the Volunteer Classic, have been canceled.

UT press release:

After consultation with the Knox County Health Department, Tennessee has announced that its men’s basketball games against Charlotte and VCU, scheduled for Wednesday and Friday, respectively, have been canceled due to COVID-19 contact tracing.

Earlier Monday, the Tennessee program paused all team activities following multiple positive COVID-19 test results among its Tier 1 personnel, which consists of coaches, student-athletes, team managers and support staff. The positive test results were detected during routine COVID-19 surveillance testing, which is conducted three times a week in accordance with NCAA and SEC guidelines.

The basketball program is following SEC, local and university public health guidelines to prioritize the health and safety of all student-athletes and staff as well as the campus and local community.

Charlotte and VCU also mutually agreed to cancel their game that was scheduled for Thursday at Thompson-Boling Arena as they both explore other scheduling options.

Tennessee’s participation in next week’s Jimmy V Classic in Indianapolis has not been ruled out at this point, as a projected activity-resumption date for the Volunteers will be determined following further monitoring.

Ticket holders will receive communication via email if additional changes are made to Tennessee’s schedule throughout the season and should ensure that VolsTix@utk.edu is recognized by their email client as a “safe sender” so emails are not directed to a junk or spam folder.

Given the unusual nature of this season—specifically, the current unknowns related to the likelihood of postponed games getting rescheduled or canceled games getting replaced by previously unscheduled matchups—Tennessee Athletics will determine its basketball ticket refund policy at the conclusion of the regular season.

We appreciate the flexibility and understanding of our ticket holders.

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Tennessee men’s basketball pauses team activities

Tennessee is scheduled tipoff the 2020-21 season Nov. 25.

The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team is scheduled to tipoff the 2020-21 season Wednesday against Charlotte.

The contest is part of the Volunteer Classic.

UT announced Monday that it is pausing all team activities following positive COVID-19 test results among its Tier 1 personnel, which consists of coaches, student-athletes, team managers and support staff.

Vols’ head coach Rick Barnes is one of the individuals who returned a positive test. He has since entered isolation protocol.

The basketball program is following SEC, local and university public health guidelines to prioritize the health and safety of all student-athletes and staff as well as the campus and local community.

An update on the status of this week’s Volunteer Classic games will be provided by Tuesday. — University of Tennessee press release

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Kennedy Chandler signs, submits National Letter of Intent to attend Tennessee

Rick Barnes discusses Kennedy Chandler signing to play for Tennessee.

KNOXVILLE — Kennedy Chandler has signed and submitted his National Letter of Intent to attend the University of Tennessee.

Chandler is part of the 2021 class and is expected to enroll at UT during the summer.

He is a five-star prospect rated by ESPN as the nation’s top point guard. The Memphis, Tennessee native is attending Sunrise Christian Academy in Wichita, Kansas for his senior year of high school.

“Kennedy was one of our primary targets for a long time,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said in a press release. “To us, his elite speed, athleticism, defense and basketball IQ separated him from every other point guard in America, but it was his character, work ethic and toughness that really made him a perfect fit for our program. We’re very excited to have Kennedy and his family join our Tennessee basketball family.”

AP preseason men’s basketball poll: Where the Vols are ranked

AP preseason men’s basketball poll: Where the Vols are ranked.

The 2020-21 men’s college basketball season is approaching.

Tennessee will tipoff the season Nov. 25 against Charlotte at Thompson-Boling Arena. The Vols will open Southeastern Conference play Dec. 30 at Missouri.

The Associated Press released its preseason 2020-21 men’s basketball poll Monday. Tennessee is ranked No. 12 to start the season.

Tennessee finished the 2019-20 campaign 17-14 (9-9 SEC) before the coronavirus pandemic prematurely ended the season. The season came to an end before the Vols’ first game in the SEC Tournament.

NEXT: Tennessee’s regular-season non-conference schedule

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Rick Barnes discusses uncertainty of Vols’ basketball schedule

Rick Barnes’ discussion of the uncertainty of UT’s hoops schedule as Vols continue to cope with COVID-19.

KNOXVILLE — The 2020-21 college basketball season is looming, but uncertainty is clouding things due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

University of Tennessee men’s basketball head coach Rick Barnes discussed the upcoming campaign and uncertainty surrounding the Volunteers’ schedule at this time.

The Vols learned Wednesday that they would host Kansas in the 2021 SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Jan. 30 at Thompson-Boling Arena.

It will be the third consecutive season that the Vols and Jayhawks have clashed on the hardwood and Barnes said that he is excited to tangle with Kansas and match wits with Jayhawks’ coach Bill Self.

“We’re excited about having the chance to play Kansas again,” Barnes said Wednesday. “We had a really good game with them a year ago. I guess my disappointment is that they won’t be able to get the full Thompson-Boling experience.

“It would be sold out as we normally expect. At this point, we haven’t figured out the issues yet and we don’t know at this point what we’re going to be allowed to do with our arena (but) I’ve always enjoyed competing against Bill’s teams.”

Tennessee knows that it is scheduled to host Kansas in late-January, but everything else is hanging in the balance with UT’s non-conference schedule.

Barnes is not expecting to play neutral-site games against Wisconsin and Memphis.

The showdown against Gonzaga is in doubt, however Barnes said that he is hoping for an opportunity to play the Bulldogs.

“As of right now, I don’t think we will have any of the neutral site games, because it just doesn’t make sense,” Barnes said. “The Gonzaga game is still on. Mark (Few) and I have talked about playing that game, some way, somehow.

“With the Wisconsin game, we tried. That was our opener and we just haven’t been able to make it work, with what they have to deal with, with their league games and where the flow of the schedule comes in. Of those three games, I think the one that’s going to get worked out is the Gonzaga game. Again, that actually depends on some other games and if the bubble situation works out. That’s as honest as I can be because that’s all I know right now.”