Coach Rick Barnes leads the no. 1 in Tennessee through faith in Christ

On By Littum

Tennessee men’s basketball head coach Rick Barnes talks with a referee, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Craig Pessman)

Almost six years since Rick Barnes and the Tennessee Volunteers last climbed to the top of the Associated Press men’s basketball pollthey are back at no. 1 place. Tennessee (11-0) jumped from third to first in the December 9 vote and remained in first place in the latest poll released Monday after beating Miami (FL) at Madison Square Garden (75-62) and Illinois on the road (66-64) thanks to a buzzer beater from Jordan Gainey.

The Volunteers then cruised past Western Carolina, 84-36, on Tuesday night to maintain their perfect record. Chaz Lanier led the way with 19 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals.

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In his media availability prior to Tuesday’s game, Barnes complimented his team — which has a starting lineup of four seniors and one junior — on its maturity and camaraderie.

“The leadership is fantastic,” he said. “We wouldn’t be where we are if this group didn’t care about each other, like each other and … continue to push each other.”

In Barnes’ nine full seasons in Knoxville, the Volunteers have won two SEC regular-season titles (2017-18 and 2023-24), one SEC Tournament title (2022) and reached the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 three times. They have been ranked in the top five of the AP poll for four consecutive seasons. Tennessee is the fourth program Barnes has coached to the NCAA Tournament and the third he has led to a conference title.

Barnes’ approach to coaching is guided by his faith in God, but it hasn’t always been that way. He shared on the Sports Spectrum Podcast in 2019 that he began chasing worldly things earlier in his coaching career and often neglected God. It was a difficult conversation initiated by his children that helped drive Barnes back to the Lord.

“I’m just thankful that God, you know, he’s not going to let go of you,” he said on Sports Spectrum’s “Table Forty” podcast in 2021. “I don’t think there’s any question he had me then i was young but i let the world lead me down a path i shouldn’t have walked but i think once he gets hold of you he won’t let you go i believe ​he has good plans to help me to become more and more like him every day.”

When Tennessee won the 2022 SEC Tournament for the first time in 43 years, Barnes thanked God while celebrating on the podium. For all the awards and accolades the 70-year-old has received in his more than 37 years as a college head coach, Barnes is most concerned with model Christ for his players.

“Honestly, I just think the biggest thing is that we want to share our faith,” he said on the Sports Spectrum Podcast. “We should want our players to understand who Jesus Christ is. They should see us living it every single day.”

Last season, Tennessee went 27-9, tied for the fourth-most wins in program history while reaching the Elite Eight and winning a conference title in the same season for the first time. The next step is to make the Final Four, something the program has never done. Barnes has reached the Final Four once when he led Texas in 2003.

Before the Volunteers can do that, however, they have an opportunity to become the first team to win back-to-back SEC regular-season titles since Kentucky in 2015-16 and 2016-17. As Barnes leads them on that quest, he will continue to allow God to shape him.

“What I learned is that once he gets a hold of you, he’s never going to let you go,” he said on the Sports Spectrum Podcast. “He keeps creating you. We know he is the potter and we are the clay and I just pray that he will continue to mold me into the person he wants me to be.”

Tennessee returns to the court Monday night when it hosts Middle Tennessee State. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. ET.

>> Do you know Christ personally? Learn how to surrender your life to Him.

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