Rick Barnes has often been criticized for his lack of tournament success in Knoxville. He has made two Sweet 16s and has not advanced past that. However, he has built a perennial top-10 team on Rocky Top, and this upcoming season should prove no different. In my yearly top 50 ranking of college basketball, Rick Barnes came in at 35.
Many things go into the rankings, and while Barnes might not have the NCAA Tournament success recently of some of the coaches above him, he excels in many other things. Barnes is proven as a program builder and recruiter. Those two things often go hand in hand, but his ability to recruit high school players and adapt to the portal has been impressive . He has put together a top 20 freshman class in 3 straight seasons, and on the transfer front, he's added guys like Tyreke Key last season and Dalton Knecht this season.
The most impressive thing about Barnes as a coach is the system he has instilled and been able to maintain. You can always count on Tennessee's defense being elite as long as Barnes is there, as he has a knack for finding guys that are not only strong but play hard on the defensive end. The system has pretty much guaranteed that most years, Tennessee will be hovering around the top 10. Last season, that defense carried the Vols into the No. 1 spot in KenPom until injuries started piling up. This past season specifically, Barnes did a great job, and while the final month and a half weren't the greatest, getting to a Sweet 16 with their injuries was impressive. This year's Vols team has the chance to elevate Barnes' ranking for next summer by a ton.
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