Terrific Tennessee Tuesday: Rick Barnes
Tennessee men's head basketball coach Rick Barnes is remaking his roster in a hurry this offseason.
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Every Tuesday, we here at Tennessee SRM will highlight one Tennessee Volunteers athlete or coach that had the best week throughout football, basketball, and baseball season. It’s one of the various daily staples here at SRM that we hope you enjoy and check back for each Tuesday throughout the year.
Let’s dive into which athlete we elected to spotlight for today’s Terrific Tennessee Tuesday column.
Rick Barnes, Tennessee Men’s Head Basketball Coach
It has been a little over a week since, ostensibly, the Tennessee basketball careers of Zakai Zeigler, Jahmai Mashack, and Jordan Gainey came to a close after a loss in the Elite Eight to Houston. Tennessee should also lose its latest transfer portal gem in Chaz Lanier to the NBA Draft. Four key pieces from this year’s 30-win team could be gone. That’s a lot of talent, production, and leadership to replace in one offseason – even in the era of the transfer portal.
And yet, it’s the eighth of April, and with two transfer portal additions already in the boat for next year’s team, you don’t have to squint too hard to see another top-10 team in college basketball coming together in a hurry in Knoxville. Rick Barnes and his staff have already landed big-time point guard transfer and Greeneville native Ja’Kobi Gillespie out of Maryland, along with Vanderbilt transfer big Jaylen Carey. The Vols are still in the mix for five-star wing Nate Ament as he pushed back his commitment announcement date. The Vols are reportedly in the mix for Gillespie’s Terrapins teammate and fellow combo guard Rodney Rice, too. Local D-II star Elyjah Freeman out of Lincoln Memorial is another transfer portal possibility for the Vols.
All that to say, Barnes and his staff are not messing around this offseason. In a previous era of college athletics, it would be fair to expect a bit of a team reset after losing two four-year staples like Zeigler and Mashack. With the Gillespie and Carey additions from the outset this offseason, though, it’s clear that, after reaching back-to-back Elite Eight and three straight Sweet Sixteen runs, Barnes has no appetite for a reset. Sure, next year’s team will rely more on multiple transfers than either of the last two teams that reached the Elite Eight under Barnes, but the team that just won the National Championship game on Monday night started four transfers. Oddly enough, next year’s team under Barnes could also lead with four new transfers. (Three new transfers plus one prep recruit is also a possibility.) With Felix Okpara back, all five of Barnes’ starters next season could be transfers.
Without question, next year will be fascinating for Tennessee men’s basketball. How seamless will it be to go from Zeigler to Gillespie at point guard? How does Barnes rotate his bigs with Carey in the boat to go along with Okpara, Cade Phillips, and JP Estrella? Speaking of Estrella, what if he makes a big leap in Year 3? Where does four-star freshman wing Amari Evans fit in? Where is second-year guard Bishop Boswell in his development this offseason? What if the Vols land Ament? How great of a local story would it be for Freeman to go from lighting it up at LMU to lighting it up at UTK?
Yes, Tennessee will look very different next season. It was weird not to have Santiago Vescovi and Josiah-Jordan James around early this season. It will be weird not to have Zeigler and Mashack around early next season. More broadly, it will be weird not to have any long-time fixtures around early next season. That all can be true, and Rick Barnes could also have the deepest roster he’s had in a bit at Tennessee next season after all the dust settles this off-season.
It’s a credit to Barnes and his staff that it’s April 8 as I’m writing this, and it’s not silly to suggest there is a path to next year’s Tennessee team being better than this year’s Tennessee team after losing an all-time player like Zeigler. With Gillespie and Carey in the boat, though, and more potential big splashes on the way, Barnes and his staff are not content with back-to-back Elite Eight trips. They’re still thinking Final Four, and that’s why it’s still an incredibly thrilling time to be a Tennessee hoops fan.
LATEST EPISODE OF THE CHASE THOMAS PODCAST
On today's program, Chase is joined by Rocky Top Insider's Ryan Schumpert and Saturday Down South's Ethan Stone to talk about Tennessee adding both Ja'Kobi Gillespie and Jaylen Carey out of the transfer portal, the Vols beefing up their big rotation, Chaz Lanier vs. Gillespie as transfers, Nate Ament being back in the picture for the Vols, other transfer portal options for Tennessee and much more.
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The SRM Daily Column Schedule
Each day, I write a different column over here on SRM on the Tennessee Vols all year long.
MONDAY- 48 Hours After Tennessee Vols Recap
TUESDAY- Terrific Tennessee Spotlight
WEDNESDAY- Tennessee Vols Wednesday Wonder
THURSDAY- Know The Foe Vols Game Preview
FRIDAY- 3 Thoughts & 1 Prediction For The Tennessee Vols
SATURDAY- Instant Reaction To Latest Tennessee Vols Game
SUNDAY- Stock Report For The Tennessee Vols
The Chase Thomas Podcast Lineup
There are a lot of different ways to stay locked in on all the Tennessee Vols podcasting coverage I’m putting out every day.
Below is my weekly podcast lineup, so you always know what’s coming down the pike each day on the program. (Note: There are always surprise special Tennessee Vols guests that pop in throughout the week as well. Some examples include Volquest’s Brent Hubbs, Tennessee CF Hunter Ensley, 99.1 The Sports Animal’s Tyler Ivens, GoVols247’s Ryan Callahan, Tony Basilio, Sports Source’s John Pennington, and many others.)
MONDAY - A Pod Divided w/ Fellow University of North Georgia Alumni Matt Green
TUESDAY - Tennessee Vols Sports Guys w/ Rocky Top Insider’s Ryan Schumpert, Saturday Down South’s Ethan Stone and Omaha Production’s Jack Foster
WEDNESDAY - More Important Issues w/ Landon Raby & Caleb Mitchell
THURSDAY - Vols Hoops Hour w/ Vol Report’s Ryan Sylvia
FRIDAY - Vols Best Bets & Tennessee Baseball w/ Omaha Productions’ Jack Foster
(Final Note: All of this and more information on Knoxville’s No. 1 independent Tennessee Vols podcast is available over at the official website which you can find here.)
Make it a great Tuesday, everyone.
Go Vols,
Chase