Tennessee fans may have been somewhat nervous when Admiral Schofield announced he would test the NBA waters following last season’s SEC regular-season championship and runner-up finish in the SEC Tournament. Of course, Schofield has already announced he is returning for his senior season after taking part in the NBA Combine, but according to Rick Barnes, it was the Tennessee coach’s idea for the forward to test his skills in front of the NBA scouts.

During his recent media availability, Barnes was asked about Schofield testing the NBA waters. The way the Volunteer coach sees it, there were no negatives to the All-SEC forward testing his skills against some of the best NBA prospects.

“I told him from the beginning, you may not get invited to the (NBA) Combine but the fact is there will be some teams that want you to work out, and that’s probably what’s going to happen for you a year from now. So any experience you can get now will help you a year from now,” Barnes said during his media session, which can be viewed here in a YouTube video that was posted by the Knoxville News Sentinel. “From the time that we talked, he really, in his mind, was always coming back to college. That’s what he was going to do, but that’s why it’s there.

“It’s something players should take advantage of, those that really have a legitimate shot at it. So he went through it, and I think he learned, one I think it reinforced what we are doing here with him. The fact is, he came back, and he shared with his teammates all the things that he had gone through. He will have to do it again in a year from now and what he went through will help him.”

Although Schofield isn’t the only one that could potentially gain something from his experience, according to Barnes, Tennessee’s entire team could be helped from the experience shared by the star forward. The hope is the knowledge of just how difficult it is to make an NBA roster will push the entire team to work on the strengths of their game this offseason.

“I think the thing is all these guys, that’s their dream, to one day play in the NBA. I don’t think there’s any question,” Barnes continued. “One of the biggest things you have to teach young people, young players, is how hard it is to get there and how hard you have to work. There’s very few jobs available. If you are going to get one of those jobs, you are really going to have to separate yourself, someway, somehow. Whatever it is you do well, you have got to do it well every single day.”

The old-school Barnes didn’t stop there. He made it clear to Schofield that despite his outstanding junior season and NBA exposure, nothing will be given to him for returning for one more season on Rocky Top. While that kind of talk from coaches is often nothing more than lip service, Barnes’ history suggests he’s being completely honest when he says he doesn’t play favorites.

“Admiral came back, but he knows we aren’t going to coach him any different… he’s going to have to compete for his position like he did every year that he’s been here,” Barnes added. “We taught our guys at the end of the year, every position is open and if we have a different lineup — we are going to be a different team.

“We made that clear to our guys once we got back and started in the spring. It’s not like we get to start all over at the NCAA Tournament. We have to earn that right again. We are going to go do what we did last year but do it better. If you stay the same, you are going to fall behind.”