KNOXVILLE – Not often in his nearly 30 years as a college basketball coach has Rick Barnes has woken up on the third Thursday or Friday of March and not had an NCAA tournament game on his schedule.
His first season at Tennessee turned out to be just the second time in the past 21 years that Barnes won’t coach in the sport’s premier event and the first time since 1992 he won’t coach in any postseason tournament beyond the conference phase.
As Barnes turns the page to his second season, his plan for the Volunteers is to ensure that absence is a short one.
“I think you start over like we did coming in here,” Barnes said Tuesday afternoon during an interview with Sports Radio WNML in Knoxville. “I think you start over every year, even if you’ve got a lot of guys back, or if you’ve got a few guys back. I think every year is a new year.
“Where it’s a little bit more simpler would be the fact that they understand, the players coming back, what we want and how we want it, whereas a year ago we were having to teach them everything. Then what you really hope is when the new guys come in during the summer, now you’ve got your older guys that are going to do the job in terms of (showing) this is the way we do it, this is the accountability that we have to have. They’re on spring break right now, and I hope this is the last one they ever have.”
After a 15-19 season, Tennessee must take a pretty big step to reach the NCAA tournament next year. The Vols will be young, with Robert Hubbs III and Detrick Mostella the only players pre-dating Barnes and his staff. A five-man signing class will join the freshman quartet of Shembari Phillips, Admiral Schofield, Kyle Alexander and Lamonte Turner (who sat out this season while ineligible) to form the young core of Barnes’ second team in Knoxville.
“Coach Barnes is getting some great guys in here,” outgoing senior Armani Moore said last week. “I think he has some marvelous guys already in the program. They do a good job being in the gym, always showing a consistent level of work ethic. Here in the next couple of years or so, I think Tennessee will be right back on the map.”
That process is already underway for some players.
“I’ll be over it by tonight,” Schofield said last Friday after Tennessee’s season-ending loss to LSU in the Southeastern Conference tournament, “and my plan is to start next week.”
The top offseason priority for the Vols, whose nonconference schedule next season will be headlined by a game at North Carolina, will be replacing Moore and Kevin Punter Jr., the duo who carried such heavy loads this season.
How far the Vols can go could hinge more on the enigmatic Hubbs – who so often has underwhelmed despite flashing his undeniable talent – than any other player. Injuries (including knee surgery in December) and inconsistency plagued Hubbs this season, causing him to miss practice time and often fail to make an impact in games.
His production in the SEC tournament provided some hope for next season, though, as does Barnes’ stubborn attitude toward getting the former five-star prospect to put it all together.
“I do know that he’s as healthy as he’s ever been,” Barnes said Tuesday. “We all know that he has it in him. He’s got to love the game. He’s got to combat it with passion. He’s got to get himself in the best shape he’s ever been in, and he’s got to work at staying healthy.”
Schofield’s well-rounded skill set suggests he could be a reliable scorer after he averaged 8.5 points in league play and 11.3 points in the SEC tournament.
Phillips should benefit from Turner taking over at point guard, which will allow the promising wing to settle into an off-the-ball role as a slasher and shooter.
It’s imperative for Alexander that he gets bigger, stronger and tougher to battle more effectively in the paint.
“In the future we’ll be pretty good,” Mostella said after the LSU loss. “We’ll be back at this stage again next year, and we feel like we’ll win a lot more games. We feel like we’ll compete.”
Perhaps that will be enough for Barnes and Tennessee to return to the NCAA tournament.
“It’s just not something that you take for granted, to be part of a postseason tournament,” Barnes said last week. “It’s something that you work for, and really you work for it year-round. As a coach, it’s not a good feeling, obviously, because we’ve come short with this group of guys. And I can’t think any other way.
“I’ve had people tell me, ‘You guys are shorthanded,’ and that is what it is, but I believe that you get enough guys that believe in what you’re doing, and if they’re willing to do their part, that you can make something happen.”
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.