KNOXVILLE – Tennessee has been on Kim English’s radar ever since he was recruited by former basketball coach Bruce Pearl’s staff back in 2007. English has been on current coach Rick Barnes’ radar ever since Barnes was at Texas and English was at Missouri as a player and again when he got into coaching.
So it took little time for everything to come together when a spot became available on Barnes’ staff at Tennessee.
English was formally introduced as the Volunteers’ new assistant coach Tuesday, replacing Rob Lanier, who left to become the head coach at Georgia State. The 30-year-old English comes from Colorado, where he spent the past two seasons as an assistant.
“He didn’t remind me until he got the job that he beat us five times in college,” Barnes joked Tuesday. “He’s already made an impact, just in a few days of being here with us. He has a beautiful family, a daughter and another on the way in five weeks.”
Barnes was in Missouri on Wednesday and was amazed by the number of people who came up to him and told him that English was one of their favorite players while he was in college.
As for English, the opportunity to get closer to home was appealing. He is from Maryland, while his wife is from southeastern Missouri.
“It was a no-brainer on a lot of fronts,” English said. “I think the thing I do best as a coach is connect with the players. I connected deeply with the guys at Colorado – that was the hardest part (about leaving) – but I’m so excited to get to work with the (Tennessee) guys. They’re obviously great athletes, No. 1 in the country for four weeks, SEC champs, Sweet 16, but I was blown away by Grant Williams the person, Lamonte Turner the person.
“That’s what I’m most excited about.”
The coaching staff may not be finalized yet. Desmond Oliver is a finalist for the Kennesaw State opening, but Barnes noted that he was thinking that assistant Michael Schwartz will take over Lanier’s spot as associate head coach, but that “we are all talking about it.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.