Every year the noise gets just a little bit louder. Every year, Rick Barnes just keeps on keeping on.
The 71-year-old celebrated another birthday on Thursday and he’s showing no signs of slowing down. If anything, he just keeps ramping things up. Barnes has revived the Tennessee basketball program over the last decade, taking over at a low point following the ugly endings to Bruce Pearl, Cuonzo Martin and Donnie Tyndall. It was a slow build, but it’s been paying dividends for the past several seasons
now.
The rumor mill really got going near the end of this past season, and it made plenty of sense. Barnes was set to lose Zakai Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack, two kids that perhaps meant more to him than any before. Chaz Lanier, Igor Milicic and Jordan Gainey were also on the way out, meaning yet another full roster reconstruction was ahead.
Days went by and no news came. Barnes confirmed in late March that he had no plans of retiring. He’s sticking around for at least another season, and based off his tone, nobody should be surprised if he’s got a few more left in him.
Barnes reiterated that in an interview with Andy Katz, saying that he’ll know exactly when he needs to step away from the game.
Rick Barnes will know when it’s time for him to retire and now is NOT the time
— Andy Katz (@SidelinewithAK) July 18, 2025
: https://t.co/ErJdS5wA74 pic.twitter.com/TmpfKLQdmw
At 71 years old, this will be a conversation we’ll have every single March. Several coaches younger than him have stepped away from the game as the new transfer portal/NIL era has come in. Barnes has embraced it though, and found success with it. He’s set to do it again this season, once again building a roster from nearly the ground up that will contend for the SEC title.
Barnes is 232-109 at Tennessee, now with seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances and back to back Elite Eights. It sounds like he’s perfectly happy continuing to rack up those numbers with his program on an absolute roll.
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