What The NCAA Tournament Means For Rick Barnes
In 36 years of coaching college basketball at the major division one level, Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes built quite the resume. He has appeared in 27 NCAA tournaments with eight sweet sixteen, three elite 8s, and a final four appearance in 2003 with Texas. His legacy now is no secret that he is one of the most consistent coaches in college hoops.
However, he has that obvious one thing missing, a national championship. The closest he got to it was in 2003 while coaching with the Texas Longhorns. He lost to Syracuse, led by recently retired coach Jim Boeheim. They became the eventual national champions that season.
Olivier Nkamhoua, Tennessee F
After coaching for stents at Texas and schools like Clemson, Providence, and George Mason before, he was hired as the Tennessee head coach before the 2015 season. He led the Volunteers to an NCAA tournament berth in 2018, when the school also won the SEC regular season title. It was the Vols' 11th one in the program's history.
His resume with Tennessee includes that and a tournament championship in 2022 that ended a 43-year drought. He has led the team to 5 tournament appearances and two sweet sixteens.
Thursday night, Barnes could make history by beating Florida Atlantic and sending the Vols to just their 2nd elite eight ever. The team has not been that far in the tournament since 2010.
Beyond that, Barnes has the chance to take the Volunteers to their first-ever Final Four and to win their first national title. And it allows Barnes to add that crowning piece to his already all-time-worthy career. This tournament leaves him with many possibilities to cement himself into college hoops immortality.
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