KNOXVILLE – Tennessee men’s basketball coach Rick Barnes has added Kim English to his staff, according to multiple media reports Wednesday.
English was an assistant to Colorado coach Tad Boyle the past two seasons. The Buffaloes went 40-28 during English’s time, winning 23 games in 2018-19 before falling 68-55 in the National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals to Texas, which went on to beat Lipscomb in the title game.
Prior to going to Colorado, English spent two seasons at Tulsa under Frank Haith, English’s college coach at Missouri.
The addition of English comes less than a week after Rob Lanier, who held the title of associate head coach, left the Volunteers to become head coach at Georgia State. It’s not known how Barnes will divide responsibilities between English and on-court assistants Desmond Oliver and Michael Schwartz.
“Kim has a tremendous future in this business,” Haith told the Tulsa World in 2016. “I saw his future potential as a coach when he was a player for me at Missouri.
“Anyone who has met Kim sees his personality, and his ability to be an effective recruiter. He will be really good on the floor with our guys, and I think the sky is the limit for him as a coach.”
The National Association of Basketball Coaches made English one of its 2017-18 Under Armour 30-under-30 honorees as one of the up-and-coming young coaches in men’s college basketball.
In his four-year playing career at Missouri, English averaged 11.1 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game, and his 1,570 career points rank 13th in program history. He earned All-Big 12 third-team honors as a sophomore in 2010 and as a senior in 2012, and he was named to both the USA Today All-Improved team and the United States Basketball Writers Association All-District team in 2010.
As a senior, he helped Missouri to a program-record 30 wins, the Big 12 tournament title and a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament, earning most outstanding player honors at the conference tournament after averaging 23.0 points per game and shooting 78 percent from the field during the event.
The Detroit Pistons selected English in the second round of the 2012 NBA draft. He also played professionally in Europe before beginning his coaching career.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.