Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes found his 800th career win during the Vols’ 86-51 victory over Texas A&M on Saturday night in Knoxville.
Barnes now has 20 wins at George Mason (1987-1988), 108 wins at Providence (1988-1994), 74 wins at Clemson (1994-1998), 402 wins at Texas (1998-2015), and 196 wins at Tennessee (2015-present).
Barnes was humble in victory after the game on Saturday, giving credit to his players, coaches, and program personnel over the years.
“You know what, it’s really the motto in our program, it’s not about me,” Barnes said after the game on Saturday. “And God has truly blessed me with players and coaches, administrations. And just certainly a family that has been with me every step of the way. And I’ve been doing a long time, obviously, but I’m just thankful, blessed. And I do know this, that every time that I thought I could do it on my own, it didn’t work. And I just thank God for looking out for me through the years.”
Barnes’ peers in the coaching community, though? They were excited to share their congratulations and give flowers to the Hall of Fame-nominated coach.
Following the game on Saturday, Tennessee posted a video of several Hall of Fame and well-accomplished coaches from the college basketball world sending their congratulations, including Kentucky head coach John Calipari and Kansas head coach Bill Self.
The notable names include UNC’s Roy Williams, Providence HC Kim English, Houston HC Kelvin Sampson, Kansas HC Bill Self, SMU HC Rob Lanier, Gonzaga HC Mark Few, ECU HC Mike Schwartz, Kentucky HC John Calipari, Texas HC Rodney Terry, and Michigan State HC Tom Izzo.
800 wins and made a few friends along the way
congrats to Coach Barnes on another milestone 🫡 pic.twitter.com/hlo1WYMMB5
— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) February 25, 2024
More from RTI: Rick Barnes Earns 800th Career Win As Tennessee Knocks Off Texas A&M
In late December, Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes was named one of the 36 North American nominees for the 2024 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame class. While Barnes will certainly be up for nomination again in the future, the 37-year head coach did not make the final cut for the 2024 class.
Barnes has led Tennessee to a 21-6 record through the Vols’ first 27 games of the 2023-2024 season. The Vols are in great positioning for the postseason tournaments ahead but have a gauntlet of challenging teams between now and then.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more on the Tennessee basketball season as postseason play quickly draws near.
