Tennessee Extends Rick Barnes
Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes isn’t going anywhere.
On Thursday afternoon, Tennessee released a statement that Vice-Chancellor/Athletic Director Danny White had extended Barnes’ contract through the 2026-2027 season.
Barnes was given an extension in the summer of 2021 as well, which originally took his contract through the 2025-2026 season. However, after putting a successful season in the books, White locked down Barnes for a bit longer.
“After meeting with our players this week, I’m energized and eager to get back in the gym preparing for next season,” Barnes said via the press release. “Our family is blessed to be a part of the University of Tennessee family, and we appreciate the alignment of our administration. There are so many wonderful things happening on campus and throughout the community that we’re excited to support and participate in. It’s a great time to be a Tennessee Volunteer.”
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After concluding his seventh season in Knoxville, Barnes was able to deliver Tennessee their first SEC Tournament Championship trophy since 1979, marking the fifth in program history. The Vols’ SEC Tournament run in March was enough to skyrocket them up to the No. 5 ranking in the AP Poll.
At 67-years-old, Barnes has been able to turn the Tennessee program into a respected powerhouse in the college basketball landscape. Over his seven years in Knoxville, Barnes has led the Vols to three separate seasons of 26 wins or more – something that has only been done six times in Tennessee program history. In addition, the Vols finished the 2021-2022 season undefeated at home, which is also an accomplishment that Barnes’ team pulled off during the 2018-2019 season. Prior to that, Tennessee hadn’t had an undefeated home season in Knoxville since 2007-2008.
Tennessee has made four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances under Barnes with one conference tournament championship (2022) and one regular-season conference championship (2018) during that time.
“Rick has built an incredible culture within our men’s basketball program that has spread throughout Vol Nation,” Danny White said via Tennessee’s press release. “I’ve had a blast watching the best fanbase in the country embrace this team and create the most electric environment in college basketball. Coach Barnes’ leadership is steady, and his players exude high character. They take pride in representing our university and the state of Tennessee with class and an unrivaled competitive drive. Having played and coached the game, basketball has a special place in my heart. To that end, I can’t overstate how fortunate we are to have Rick Barnes leading our program. I am unbelievably excited about our bright future as we chase future championships on the hardwood.”
After Tennessee’s win against Longwood in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Barnes officially hit 150 wins with the Tennessee program. When looking at his career as a whole, Barnes’ total win number comes out to 754.
According to Tennessee’s press release, “under [Barnes’] direction, the Vols have spent 73 weeks in the AP Top 25 and have defeated multiple ‘blue blood’ programs, including Kentucky (10 times), Kansas, Gonzaga, Purdue, North Carolina and Arizona.”
The details of Barnes’ contract extension have not yet been fully released as of the time of this publication.
