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10 factors determining if Vols head coach Rick Barnes leaves for UCLA

By Caleb Calhoun

COLUMBIA, MISSOURI - JANUARY 08: Head coach Rick Barnes of the Tennessee Volunteers directs his team against the Missouri Tigers in the second half at Mizzou Arena on January 08, 2019 in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, MISSOURI - JANUARY 08: Head coach Rick Barnes of the Tennessee Volunteers directs his team against the Missouri Tigers in the second half at Mizzou Arena on January 08, 2019 in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images
Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images /

6. Program prestige

Building off the recruiting advantage, program prestige itself is a story. Often times, great coaches want to be part of a prestigious program and build on that legacy. John Calipari did just that when he chose to go to the Kentucky Wildcats.

Nick Saban did it by joining the Alabama Crimson Tide. It didn’t matter that he had built a program on his own with the LSU Tigers and may have had success in the NFL. The prospect of meeting expectations at the school where Bear Bryant was king was enough of a challenge for him to want to try it.

Rick Barnes, meanwhile, could be thinking about the same thing? John Wooden is the face of college basketball and orchestrated the greatest dynasty ever. What would it mean for Barnes to go to UCLA and build on that legacy?

Coaches who have a great appreciation for the history of college basketball would love the chance to establish a legacy there. Appreciation simply for college basketball would be more than enough to make a great coach want to make UCLA a winner again. Everybody who loves the sport believes it’s meant for the Bruins to be on that level.

We know that Barnes is a guy who loves the sport of college basketball overall. His love for it and tradition may be just enough to lead him to Los Angeles. Sure, the Vols have history. But it’s nothing compared to UCLA.

So what can Tennessee offer? This isn’t Calipari leveraging UCLA for a higher salary at Kentucky, which has it’s own great basketball history. Barnes would be leveraging to stay at Tennessee, a much lesser program historically. And that is worthy of concern for Vol Nation.

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