Tennessee basketball: Vols fans should trust Rick Barnes on new UCLA report

Tennessee basketball Rick Barnes disputed a report that he contacted the UCLA Bruins first. He’s earned the right to be trusted by Volunteers fans.

A week ago, Rick Barnes generated controversy for being too honest and admitting the buyout kept him from leaving Tennessee basketball to become head coach of the UCLA Bruins. Now, he’s out disputing a report that could make him look worse. And Vols fans should believe him.

The Atlantic came out with a story about Mick Cronin accepting the UCLA head coaching job and how he arrived there. In it, Seth Davis cites UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero to tell a story of Barnes allegedly reaching out to express interest in the Bruins after talks fell through between them and Jamie Dixon of the TCU Horned Frogs.

However, Jimmy Hyams of WNML tweeted that Barnes called that an absolute lie. He added that Barnes said he was contacted by a UCLA rep on April 2 and told Phillip Fulmer about it that following Friday.

Let’s be clear about this much. Tennessee basketball fans should believe Rick Barnes. Many were mad at him about his brutal honesty last week when admitting that he would have taken the UCLA job had the buyout been worked out. Some felt slighted, unreasonably I might add, that Barnes would leave a program that has never made the Final Four for the most storied one of all time.

However, if you’re going to be mad at him or even just disappointed about that last week, then you have to give him the benefit of the doubt this week when he says he did not reach out to UCLA. Barnes pretty much proved that he wasn’t going to lie about the negotiations.

By the way, it’s worth noting that even if he did reach out, it wouldn’t have been a big deal. Nothing is wrong with reaching out to try to take the UCLA job. Most coaches would leave Tennessee basketball for that, even if the Vols are actually a better job nowadays.

But if Barnes says he didn’t do it, well, he’s worthy of believing. Why would he say what he said last week and then lie about who contacted UCLA first this week? It just doesn’t make sense, so for now, Vol Nation should trust Barnes.

Sure, there’s an off-chance he played a Machiavellian game in which by saying what he said last week everybody would in turn believe him this week. But that doesn’t make as much sense considering the fact that it doesn’t look any worse for him to reach out to UCLA.

The fact is Tennessee basketball would be searching for a new coach if Barnes got the deal he wanted. It was common knowledge among educated Vol fans before his admission came out last week. Reaching out for the UCLA job wouldn’t change anything.

If Barnes did get caught lying, it would be 10 times worse than anything that would have come out of news that he potentially reached out for the job. Why would he run that risk, which totally outweighs the increased backlash he may have received if he had reached out for the UCLA job? Again, that’s something that makes no sense, so he’s earned the right to be trusted by Vol Nation.