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LISTEN: Tom Hart says Tennessee ‘hit the jackpot’ when hiring Rick Barnes in 2015
By Adam Spencer
Published:
When the Tennessee Volunteers hired Rick Barnes back in 2015, no one could have predicted that the Vols would be one of the best teams in the nation by 2019.
That’s where we are, though, as Tennessee checks in at No. 5 in the latest AP Poll and has a chance to be a No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
On College Sports on SiriusXM on Wednesday, ESPN broadcaster Tom Hart said the Vols hit the jackpot when they hired Barnes:
Since taking over in Knoxville, Rick Barnes has brought @Vol_Hoops from 15-19 (6-12 SEC) in 2015-16, to 27-3 (15-2 SEC) so far this season
According to @tom_hart, the Vols "hit the jackpot" by hiring Rick Barnes in 2015 pic.twitter.com/tmmmMhWLyo
— College Sports on SiriusXM (@SXMCollege) March 6, 2019
“They hit the jackpot with Rick Barnes,” he said. “You wind back to win Rick Barnes got the job and, we know what this class looks like now, but he didn’t bring in a bunch of McDonald’s All-Americans, he didn’t bring in top-100 recruits. … They’ve done an amazing job. It’s one of the great turnarounds in college basketball.”
Tennessee earned a share of the SEC regular-season title last year and can do the same thing by winning their final game on Saturday at Auburn. Barnes is largely responsible for that, and we’ll see what this team can do in the postseason.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 14 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.