Former Clemson Coach Rick Barnes Takes Time-Out to Share Message with Greenville Students

December 3, 2018

Coach Rick Barnes and his University of Tennessee basketball team face a big challenge this weekend when the Volunteers play No. 1 Gonzaga.

But that’s a challenge that pales in comparison to the ones faced daily by many young people – a fact underscored by Barnes Monday night when he took a brief time-out from the Volunteers' season to address an attentive audience of a few hundred Greenville County students at a Coaches 4 Character program at Greenville’s Relentless Church.

He told the story of a young boy who was largely disinterested as a youth. A boy who was raised by a single mom. A boy who lost a sister in an automobile accident at a young age. A boy who failed first grade. A boy with a bad attitude. A boy who tried to get attention for all the wrong reasons. That boy was Rick Barnes.

“I needed help,” Barnes said. “I needed to get educated.” Once that occurred, things began to fall in place for an aspiring young basketball player from Hickory, N.C. “Once you learn to read, once you learn to write, you can go anywhere in the world,” Barnes said. “One regret I have is that I didn’t understand that earlier.”

Barnes’ newfound “world” started close to home. He played basketball at Lenoir-Rhyne College and later wound up as an assistant coach under Eddie Biedenbach at Davidson.

Assistant coaching gigs at George Mason, Alabama and Ohio State followed before he landed his first head coaching job at George Mason in 1987. The Patriots went 20-10 in his debut and he was quickly snatched up by Providence, where he spent the next six seasons, averaging 18 wins a year and guiding the Friars to three NCAA Tournament appearances while competing in the rugged Big East.

Barnes then coached at Clemson for four seasons, including a 23-10 campaign and Sweet 16 appearance in the 1996-97 season. But Barnes left for Texas and the Big 12 a year later, spending the next 17 seasons leading the Longhorns to the most successful stretch in program history – 16 NCAA Tournament appearances, including two Sweet 16s, two Elite Eights and one Final Four.

He took the head coaching job at Tennessee four years ago and has masterminded a complete reversal of fortune. The Vols won 26 games last season, winning a share of the Southeastern Conference regular-season title and making the NCAA Tournament.

“From Day 1 we wanted to win,” Barnes said. “We didn’t have a timetable. Last year we were able to break through. We wanted it be something we could sustain for a while and not be a one-hit wonder.” Barnes’ team is showing no signs of being a flash-in-the-pan.

The Vols are 6-1 and ranked No. 7 this season, with their lone defeat an overtime loss against No. 2 Kansas. Barnes acknowledged that the team’s toughest test to date may come Saturday against top-ranked Gonzaga in the Jerry Colangelo Classic in Phoenix, Arizona. Win or lose, rest assured the 64-year-old Barnes will be philosophical.

“At one time, believe it or not, I was the youngest head coach in Division I basketball,” Barnes said. “Now I’m one of the oldest.” And more than willing to impart some wisdoms on the youth of America, including the Upstate. “Whenever you go home tonight, tell that person you love them,” Barnes said. “Let your teachers know that you respect them and what they do, because that’s a hard job. “In school, be a leader. Say ‘Hey, let’s do this the right way.’ But don’t ever stop working and don’t ever stop dreaming.”

​By: Scott Keepfer -- Greenville Online

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