Rick Barnes likes Miss Griffins hot dogs and Vols' potential

Tennessee men's basketball coach Rick Barnes and the Vols watch the second half of their game against Gonzaga last December in Nashville. Two players transferred out in the offseason, but the addition of two scoring guards late in the recruiting cycle could upgrade the roster overall.
Tennessee men's basketball coach Rick Barnes and the Vols watch the second half of their game against Gonzaga last December in Nashville. Two players transferred out in the offseason, but the addition of two scoring guards late in the recruiting cycle could upgrade the roster overall.
photo James Daniel III dribbles away from Rutgers' Corey Sanders during a road game for Howard University in November 2015. Daniel is a graduate transfer who will play for Tennessee this season.

Rick Barnes made a stop in Chattanooga before arriving at last Saturday's Big Orange Caravan event that seemed to excite him more than any discussion of college basketball in early June could.

Barnes, who will start his third season as Tennessee's men's coach this fall, devoured a hot dog from Miss Griffins on his way over to First Tennessee Pavilion. He then became a walking, talking billboard for the iconic local restaurant as he mingled with fans and media at the caravan event.

"Have you ever eaten there? You have to try it," he said with a tone of urgency to a reporter.

As the hot dog talk finally cooled, conversation turned to the court, and the questions started flying the other direction.

Barnes, as it turns out, is also excited about what appears to be his best roster yet in Knoxville.

"We're young, but we're going to be experienced, much more experienced than we were a year ago," he said in response to a question about what could make the 2017-18 Vols better than last year's team.

"Then, I think the fact that we've added a junior college transfer and another fifth-year guy that have played big minutes in situations where they were targeted game players. They went after those guys. And the fact that I think our guys have improved. I do think that. We're just excited about where we are, and with summer school starting, we're back at it right now."

The young Vols faded down the stretch last season, but not before showing the ability to compete with some of the country's best teams. The addition of five new players, including two veteran guards, and another year of maturation for eight returning scholarship players could give Tennessee the firepower it needs to snap a three-year drought without an NCAA tournament berth.

Chris Darrington, a junior college transfer from Vincennes University in Indiana, and James Daniel III, a graduate transfer from Howard University, are likely to be immediate contributors. Both are scoring guards Barnes landed late in the recruiting cycle who chose Tennessee for the same reason.

"When you recruited both of them, all they talked about was winning," Barnes said. "They wanted to win. Neither one of them talked about anything other than being in a program where they wanted to win. I think Chris Darrington made the comment that he doesn't have time to rebuild. We've been in that mode for two years. J-Byrd (Daniel), he's a guy that when it's all said and done, from the start to the end, all he talked about was winning."

Guards Kwe Parker and Shembari Phillips have transferred out, but Daniel and Darrington are expected to provide a veteran presence among a group of returning backcourt players that includes sophomores Jordan Bone, Jordan Bowden and Lamonte Turner, plus redshirt freshman Jalen Johnson.

"If you go back to last year, where we struggled in a lot of games was in the backcourt," Barnes said. "Whether it was inconsistency or the fact that we didn't compete at the level we needed to day in and day out. I think now the competition back there is going to be great, and I just think you can see it now where we had a great spring with the guys coming back where they knew we were going to add some new players that would be in the backcourt.

"You can just feel there's a different vibe with our team right now. Everyone knows they're going to have to compete for what they get."

Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com.

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