He may have the energy of someone in their 30s or 40s, but sometimes it's easy to forget that coach Rick Barnes is 70 and he'll be turning 71 in July. Because of this, there's been plenty of speculation that the veteran Tennessee basketball head man may be ready to call it a career once this season ends.
Yeah, that's not going to happen. While meeting with the media on Thursday, Barnes, getting ready to take down Kentucky on Friday night, made it more than clear that he has no plans to retire. Instead, per reporter Wes Rucker, he's already looking forward to recruiting top talent in the portal and building for what should be another fun campaign in 2025-26:
Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said the Vols just recently added a commitment and plan to have another really productive year in the transfer portal. He said he's really excited about the next step at Tennessee. He said God will make it clear when he should retire, and He hasn't.
— Wes Rucker (@wesrucker247) March 27, 2025
Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes has cleared up rumors he's considering retirement
After being fired by Texas, Barnes made the move to Knoxville ahead of the 2015-16 season. Since joining the Vols, Barnes has 231 wins with the program and has led the Vols to seven NCAA Tournament appearances. He's been an incredible leader on campus.
This season, he has the Vols back in the Sweet Sixteen, this time getting ready to take on the Kentucky Wildcats. Tennessee is 0-2 against Kentucky and Mark Pope this season, but the hope is an 0-3 record can be prevented.
Should Tennessee take down UK, the Vols will be one step closer to reaching the Final Four for the first time ever. Standing in their way will likely be No. 1 Houston, the favorite to win the Midwest Region and move on to play with a trip to the title game on the line.
Despite that, Tennessee is fired up to keep making noise and keep this dream season going. Regardless of how things turn out, Barnes is loving his job and he doesn't intend to kick back and enjoy retired life in the near future. This is something Vols fans everywhere are quite excited about.