Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes capped off a big week with a quick offseason visit with the media on Friday morning in Knoxville.
Barnes’s jet-flying week had him in Omaha on Monday night for Tennessee Baseball’s National Championship and in Brooklyn, New York, for the first round of the NBA Draft alongside Dalton Knecht on Wednesday night.
“Well, if I let you read the text, I had to go,” Barnes said about attending the NBA Draft with Knecht. “Dalton really called me and told me, he said, coach, it would mean a lot to me if you would come. And he said, it really would. And I said, you don’t have to say anymore. I’ll be there.”
While speaking with the media on Friday, Barnes spoke about Knecht’s landing spot with the Los Angeles Lakers and the benefit that playing under head coach JJ Redick will present in Knecht’s rookie season. Barnes also gave some behind-the-scenes details about being in the Green Room alongside Knecht and his family and what the experience was like for him.
Barnes also spoke about the team, though, and where the offseason is headed in terms of player development. Tennessee Director of MBB Sports Performance Garrett Medenwald added some more detail into Tennessee’s offseason Friday with a look into how the summer weeks are structured for the Vols’ players.
Barnes even took a minute to interrupt his own press conference with a quick story about driving a forklift through a building during his first year of collegiate coaching.
More from RTI: Analysis: What Dalton Knecht Brings to the Lakers
Check out both interviews from Friday morning below as Tennessee continues to put work in during the summer as Dalton Knecht heads to sunny Los Angeles.
Tennessee HC Rick Barnes
Tennessee MBB Director of Sports Performance Garrett Medenwald
