Rick Barnes and his Tennessee program are literally on top of the college basketball world at the moment. For the first time since the 2007-08 season, the Vols are ranked No. 1 in the AP poll after winning their 12th consecutive game of the season.

While it would be understandable if Barnes decided to keep his focus completely on the task at hand, Tennessee travels to Vanderbilt Wednesday hoping to remain undefeated in SEC play, the coach of the No. 1 team in the nation took time during his recent media availability to credit one of his first Tennessee players.

When asked about the progress of his program and the team’s current top ranking, Barnes made sure to single out Kevin Punter as the first Volunteer to completely buy-in on Rocky Top.

“The one guy, and I’ve said it before, that I will always be thankful for and blessed to have coached is Kevin Punter. He did buy-in. He was the very first to buy-in and we know how that went with him,” Barnes said on Tuesday. “When you are trying to establish your culture, not that the other culture was different, but what we want to do you have to give him a lot of credit.”

Barnes also praised his former athletic director for support and providing facility upgrades that he felt were necessary to have a winning program in Knoxville.

“I go back to the facilities that were created. One of the first things we wanted to do was have a great weight room,” Barnes continued. “Our weight program, conditioning program has been really important to our player development. What we had was small and Dave Hart made that change and was willing to give us more space and really have a great facility in that way.”

Tennessee may very well be marching toward the first Final Four in school history in the coming weeks and months but if not for the willingness and support from those around the program in the past, Barnes knows that would not be a reality in the present.