INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (WDRB) — Rick Barnes is a terrific college basketball coach, a guy who’s won at Providence, Clemson, Texas and, of course, Tennessee.
Rick Barnes should be in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. He’s won in the Big East, ACC, Big 12 and SEC. Find another coach who’s done that.
Rick Barnes is not a terrific coach in the men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament. In 28 NCAA appearances, Barnes has exited the party 16 times after losing to a lower-seeded team.
That likely explains why Barnes, 70, has not been summoned to Springfield, Massachusetts for induction to the Hall of Fame. A championship ring fast-tracks you to Springfield. Barnes does not have his ring.
That is an observation of note for the University of Kentucky basketball team because the Wildcats play Tennessee, the team Barnes coaches, Friday at 7:39 p.m. in the semifinals of the Midwest Regional at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Mark Pope coaches Kentucky. He won his first two NCAA tournament games last weekend in Milwaukee and is positioned to take the Wildcats to the Elite Eight or beyond during his first season in Lexington. Good stuff. Pope won the games he was supposed to win.
Pope, 52, is just beginning to write his story — and a victory over Tennessee and another against Purdue or Houston in the regional final on Sunday would make it a remarkable story.
Although the Wildcats defeated Tennessee in Knoxville without two starters and then did it again in Rupp Arena two weeks later, Kentucky is not expected to do it a third time Friday night.
Las Vegas oddsmakers made Tennessee a 4 1/2-point favorite. The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee made the Vols the 2-seed and the Wildcats a 3-seed. (You could argue the Wildcats have Barnes precisely where they want him — the higher seed. Read on.)
This is Barnes’ 29th trip to this tournament. That is more than any active coach.
Only three retired coaches — Mike Krzyzewski of Duke (35 appearances); Jim Boeheim, Syracuse (34) and Roy Williams, Kansas, North Carolina (30) — have more NCAA trips than Barnes.
All three have been in the Hoops Hall since 2007. Barnes has been nominated for the Hall the last two seasons, but failed to make the list of 17 finalists for the 2025 class.
The performance of his team in the NCAA Tournament has grounded his candidacy.
In other words, we have reached the point in the men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament where Rick Barnes disappears. Only once, 22 seasons ago at Texas, has Barnes taken one of his teams beyond this weekend.
And that team, his 2003 Texas squad, led by point guard T.J. Ford, was a one-seed that lost to a three-seed, a Syracuse team coached by Boeheim and led by Carmelo Anthony that won the NCAA title.
Barnes took Providence to three NCAA Tournaments, not an easy thing to do at the school in Rhode Island.
He did the same thing at Clemson, which has never been a top tier ACC power.
Texas is the job where Barnes proved his coaching skills were special. Barnes took the Longhorns to 14 consecutive NCAA Tournaments as well as 16 in 17 seasons. But over time, consistent excellence was not sufficient excellence in Austin.
Texas fell out of love with Barnes in 2015 after the Longhorns, a 6-seed, lost to Butler, an 11-seed in the second round. It was the second time in four seasons Barnes lost to an 11-seed with a 6-seed.
The End?
Some thought it was the end for Barnes. Tennessee did not agree. The Vols hired Barnes before he had time to schedule a round of golf. (And Texas basketball quickly declined without Barnes.)
Within three seasons, Barnes won 26 games and put the Vols back in the NCAA Tournament. Most programs have missed at least one of the last six NCAA Tournaments. Barnes and Tennessee have not because Barnes is a terrific coach, a winner in better than 66% of his games across his career.
Except … Barnes has not been a terrific coach in the NCAA Tournament.
His first NCAA Tournament team at Tennessee fast-tracked Loyola of Chicago’s Cinderella trip to the Final Four. The Vols, a 3-seed, lost to the Ramblers by a point in the second round.
In 2021, Tennessee lost to Oregon State by 14 points. That was a 5-seed losing to a 12.
In 2022, a 27-win Tennessee team lost to Michigan by 8. That was a 3 seed losing to an 11.
In 2023, a 25-win Tennessee team fast-tracked Florida Atlantic’s Cinderella trip the Final Four, losing in the Sweet Sixteen by eight. That was a 4-seed losing to a 9.
Rick Barnes is a terrific basketball coach. But he has not been a terrific coach in the NCAA Tournament.
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