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Tennessee Vols morning report: Rick Barnes USBWA Coach of the Year

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 09: Tennessee Volunteers fans cheer during the first half of the game against the Indiana State Sycamores at Neyland Stadium on September 9, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 09: Tennessee Volunteers fans cheer during the first half of the game against the Indiana State Sycamores at Neyland Stadium on September 9, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee Vols men’s basketball head coach Rick Barnes being named USBWA Coach of the Year leads our Volunteers news for Tuesday, March 26, 2019.

The Tennessee Vols have their Sweet 16 matchup with the Purdue Boilermakers in two days, and you can bet that news surrounding the men’s basketball program is a huge part of our morning reports this week. It certainly is the case for today.

Our update on Rocky Top leads with a bit of national recognition for Rick Barnes. It also includes another story about Barnes in relation to things he said on Monday. But, to be fair, men’s basketball is not alone.

We have another football personnel story to bring you, and there is a preview of an upcoming baseball game to cover. So three of the four major sports on campus have some news today, but as you’ll see with how we start, men’s basketball is still the dominant one.

USBWA names Rick Barnes Coach of the Year – U.S. Basketball Writers Association

Tennessee Vols men’s basketball head coach Rick Barnes won the Henry IBA Award as the U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s National Coach of the Year. Barnes, whose Vols are headed to the Sweet 16 and have matched their record win total in program history at 31-5, is the first SEC coach to win the award since 2003.

"Barnes’ guidance helped keep Tennessee ranked among the top 10 in both national polls throughout the season that included sitting at No. 1 in the polls for four weeks at the end of the record win streak. Led by Oscar Robertson Trophy finalist and first-team All-American Grant Williams, Tennessee finished second in the Southeastern Conference with a 15-3 record and a 29-5 finish to the regular season."

Rick Barnes speaks with media about Sweet 16 – Grant Ramey

In addition to winning the USBWA National Coach of the Year, Tennessee basketball head coach Rick Barnes met with the media Monday to look back on his team’s two NCAA Tournament wins over the Colgate Raiders and Iowa Hawkeyes and also preview Thursday’s Sweet 16 matchup against the Purdue Boilermakers. Barnes pointed to turnovers and foul trouble as the big reasons for his team giving up big leads. Here’s what he said about making it to this weekend.

"“It’s a little bit longer, timeouts, game and halftime’s longer, but the fact is, you don’t take any of this for granted. You don’t. Because, one, it’s hard to get there. It’s hard to advance. So when you do get there, you hope to take advantage of it.”"

Latrel Riley-Murphy commits to Tennessee football – Dan Harralson, VolsWire.com

The Tennessee Vols football team added cornerback Latrel Riley-Murphy out of Kentucky. At 6’1″ 170 pounds, he will be in the program for 2019.

"Vols Wire has learned that Riley-Murphy will be a preferred walk-on at Tennessee. The 2019 prospect was a four-year starter as a cornerback at Caldwell County."

Tennessee baseball to face ETSU – UTSports

Coming off a series win over the South Carolina Gamecocks this past weekend, the Tennessee Vols baseball team will be hosting a non-conference game this week against the ETSU Buccaneers. Tony Vitello’s team enters this game ranked No. 23 with a 20-5 record.

"Tuesday’s contest will kick off a string of five straight games against in-state opponents for the Vols. The Big Orange hit the road for Nashville this weekend to take on No. 4 Vanderbilt before coming home to host Belmont next Tuesday night."

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