Tennessee basketball: Rick Barnes won’t make HoF, analyst says
Very few people in college basketball have the reputation Rick Barnes has. When Tennessee basketball introduced him 2015, he was easily the most high-profile hire ever for the program. Nobody questions his knowledge of the game or his ability to develop players, and his track record of NBA talent proves it.
However, his actual resume of production leaves his Hall-of-Fame credentials in question, according to some analysts. Among prominent men’s coaches who could follow Villanova Wildcats head coach Jay Wright to the Hall-of-Fame, Matt Norlander of CBS Sports said he has Barnes on the outside looking in right now.
Norlander analyzed 12 coaches who have already done enough to warrant a conversation, and Barnes was one of eight coaches he said would be out. Here’s what he wrote about the Tennessee basketball head coach.
"Barnes has been good-not-great in full over the course of his career. One Final Four in 24 NCAA Tournaments and a 24-24 record in the Big Dance. His hit rate for the second weekend is OK: seven Sweet-16-or-better trips in 24 appearances. He has four regular-season titles and just one conference tournament title."
Although it is true that Barnes is getting up there in years and only has one national title, Norlander could be missing the fact that Barnes appears to be getting better. In fact, Barnes seems closer to a national title now than he ever did with the Texas Longhorns.
Sure, this past year was disappointing for Rocky Top, and there is plenty to criticize about Barnes’ track record in big games. However, he just secured the greatest recruiting class in UT history, which beat the record of the previous year, which he also secured.
Nobody can deny Barnes’ track record when it comes to developing talent either. His unwillingness to compromise principles, particularly with one-and-done players, could prove costly when it comes to trying to win a national title. However, it also allows less-heralded players to develop.
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The only Hall-of-Famers on Norlander’s list after Wright were Tony Bennett of the Virginia Cavaliers, Scott Drew of the Baylor Bears, Mark Few of the Gonzaga Bulldogs and Bob Huggins of the West Virginia Mountaineers. If Barnes takes Tennessee basketball to the Final Four, though, he’d have a resume similar to Huggins, so don’t sleep on him.