2. Can Currie stabilize the men’s basketball program?
Men’s basketball has been a roller-coaster ride for the past decade.
In 2008, Bruce Pearl had Tennessee basketball running at a previously unheard of pace. The Vols reached No. 1 in the polls for the first time in school history, and the Vols made the program’s first Elite Eight in school history just a couple years later. But just a year after that, Pearl was let go after NCAA investigations revealed he had lied to the NCAA about some of his recruiting tactics.
Since Pearl was let go, Tennessee basketball has been floundering since.
The Vols made the NCAA Tournament all six years of Pearl’s tenure, but they have only made it to the tournament once in the six years since (assuming they don’t make it this season). Tennessee basketball has gone 94-76 since Pearl’s reign (not counting this season) and has had three different head coaches in that time. Despite a slow finish this year, Rick Barnes does appear to have the program going in the right direction, but it likely will still be another season before Tennessee finally gets back to the NCAA Tournament.
Currie and former KSU head basketball coach Frank Martin reportedly butted heads and his hire to replace him, Bruce Weber, has been struggling the past couple years. Currie and Barnes might be a better fit from a personality standpoint, but regardless, he needs to make sure that Barnes has the tools he needs the next couple years to continue to stabilize what looked to be a sinking basketball program.
