Rick Barnes makes Terrence Hill Jr. run stairs after airballing first 3-pointer in intra-squad scrimmage
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Rick Barnes has coached the Tennessee Volunteers‘ men’s basketball program to three consecutive Elite Eight appearances. As Saturday’s intra-squad scrimmage showed, the character and mentality necessary for such a feat isn’t developed overnight.
Early in Saturday’s scrimmage, VCU transfer Terrence Hill Jr. airballed a three-point attempt. Barnes, sensing an opportunity to further instill his culture, immediately sent Hill to the stands of Thompson-Boling Arena to run the stairs as punishment, presumably for poor shot selection rather than the miss itself.
To Barnes’ credit, Hill immediately raised his level of play after the move. According to Volquest’s Ryan Schumpert, Hill connected on seven of his next eight shots, including five three-pointers. He wound up leading the Vols with 29 points in the scrimmage.
Hill headlines a transfer class consisting of Juke Harris (Wake Forest), Dai Dai Ames (Cal) and Tyler Lundblade (Belmont), among others. Tennessee lost practically every big name from its 2025-26 roster — including J.P. Estrella (Michigan), Jaylen Carey (Missouri) and Bishop Boswell (Maryland). Their departures forced Barnes to reload on the fly. His early returns appear solid, but he’ll learn more from exhibitions vs. the Xavier Musketeers on Oct. 15 and at the Duke Blue Devils on Oct. 20.
