Tennessee basketball survived another tough SEC road test with a 74-70 win over Texas. Budding superstar Chaz Lanier was benched for a large part of the second half, and head coach Rick Barnes revealed in his postgame interview why he had made that decision.
"I took him out, the first play of the second half because he didn't shoot the ball," Barnes detailed postgame. "That play was designed for that shot. And I told him, I said, 'If you're not going to do what you're getting paid to do, you sit over here.' 'Cause he is getting paid to do that."
Lanier has struggled in Tennessee's past two games, which could be why he didn't shoot the ball on the specific play Barnes is talking about. He went three-for-11 from the field and two-for-six from three-point range on his way to only 10 points against Texas, which follows another lackluster ten-point performance against Florida.
Barnes's decision to bench Lanier revealed the harsh reality of the NIL era. Everyone can agree that players getting paid is a positive. They have the opportunity to earn money like every other college student, but that comes with higher expectations when it comes to player performance.
Lanier being benched is the reality of the new era of college athletics. It's just the first time we've heard a coach say it out loud, but expect this thought process to become more mainstream as we continue into the NIL era.
That statement also sends a message to his team and future players that Barnes brings to Knoxville. If he is paying you to play a specific role in his team, he expects you to fulfill that role, or you won't play.
Tennessee returned to the win column on Saturday night, but it wasn't pretty. Barnes has to get the Vols back on track, and Tennessee will look to do it on Wednesday night when they return to The Summitt to take on Georgia.