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Rick Barnes was caught off guard when forward Jonas Aidoo decided to transfer from Tennessee after last season.
But that hardly means the head coach of the top-ranked team in the land didn’t welcome Aidoo back to Knoxville with open arms on Saturday afternoon when Aidoo returned as a member of the 23rd-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks.
The high-powered Volunteers took care of Aidoo and the Hogs, 76-52, to stay perfect this season at 14-0 and drop Aidoo’s new school to 11-3. Aidoo, who transferred from Tennessee to Arkansas after an All-SEC season as a junior, had 4 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals in 29 minutes against the program he left behind last spring.
But Barnes showed nothing but love to Aidoo after the reunion was all over on Saturday. He wouldn’t have it any other way for the guy who played 3 seasons at Tennessee but is averaging just 6.3 points and 4.0 rebounds during an injury-hampered season in Fayetteville.
“I hugged him and told him I love him, because I do. I’ll always love him,” said Barnes of his former player.
The love was real between Barnes and Aidoo, even if Saturday was a little awkward considering the history.
With Saturday’s highly anticipated meeting behind them, now Barnes and Aidoo will go their separate ways again.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
