Tennessee coach Rick Barnes became the 15th college basketball coach ever to reach 800 career wins on Saturday night as the Vols knocked off Texas A&M 85-51 at Thompson Boling Arena at Food City Center in Knoxville.
Barnes joins a decorated list that includes Dean Smith, Bob Knight, Mike Krzyewski and more all time great coaches. Tennessee’s ninth-year head coach ranks second amongst active coaches with 800 wins behind only John Calipari who has 809 career wins. Kansas coach Bill Self isn’t far behind Barnes with 792 wins entering Saturday.
It is fitting that Barnes earned his 800th career win against Texas A&M as they served as one of his biggest rivals when he spent 17 seasons as the head coach at Texas. Barnes boasts a 31-11 career record against the Aggies including a 6-4 record in his time at Tennessee.
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Barnes earned 20 of his career wins in his lone season at George Mason, 108 of his career wins in his six seasons at Providence, 74 wins in his four seasons at Clemson, 402 wins in his 17 seasons at Texas and is currently at 196 wins in his nine seasons at Tennessee.
The veteran head coach has been to 27 NCAA Tournaments in his career, a mark that’s tied for fifth all time and ranks first amongst active head coaches.
With Tennessee’s win over Texas A&M and Alabama’s loss at Kentucky, the Vols are tied atop the SEC standing with the Crimson Tide entering the final two weeks of the regular season. Barnes is chasing his second SEC regular season title in his tenure to go along with the Vols’ 2022 SEC Tournament Championship.
Tennessee looks to stay atop the SEC standings on Wednesday night when they host No. 14 Auburn at Thompson-Boling Arena for a crucial conference showdown. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. ET and ESPN2 is broadcasting the game.
