KNOXVILLE - After spending nearly a day deciding, Tennessee men's basketball coach Rick Barnes has chosen to turn down an offer from UCLA and remain with the Volunteers.
Sunday evening, a report surfaced that the 64-year old Barnes had interviewed for the UCLA job late last week and was "considered the front-runner." Barnes was in Minneapolis Sunday to accept the Naismith Award, and once he got back to Knoxville that night, he met with athletic director Phillip Fulmer to discuss a myriad of issues.
Monday, multiple reports surfaced that UCLA had offered Barnes a deal in the range of $5 million per season, which would be a bump from the $3.25 million he was making at Tennessee.
Tennessee came back later Monday with a sizable bump in salary, which included more money for Barnes' assistants, who make a combined $975,000.
Ultimately, Barnes chose to remain in Knoxville.
"The last few days have been interesting to say the least," Fulmer said in a news release Monday evening. "One of the nation's most tradition-rich college basketball programs identified what we here at Tennessee already knew -that Rick Barnes is one the game's elite coaches and a program-changer. His incredible work here at Tennessee over the past four years illustrates that. Additionally, the impact that he and his wife, Candy, have made throughout this community has been immensely inspiring as well.
"The University of Tennessee and East Tennessee as a whole have developed an enhanced love and appreciation for our men's basketball program and its culture under Rick's leadership, and I'm thrilled that he will remain a part of our Tennessee Athletics family.
"I'm grateful to Rick and Candy, and I'm also grateful to our university leadership, which stepped up to show Rick how much he is valued and appreciated. Our commitment to basketball has never been stronger, and we're all excited for the future as we move forward."
Barnes has compiled a 88-52 record in four seasons as the Vols' head coach, which included a share of the 2018 Southeastern Conference regular-season championship; two NCAA tournaments including a Sweet 16 appearance this past season; and four weeks ranked as the No. 1 team in the country. His 2018-19 team finished 31-6 and had a program-record 19-game win streak.
The 31 wins matched the 2007-08 season for the most in program history.
On Sunday he was named the Naismith coach of the year, awarded to the best coach in college basketball.
He previously was the head coach at Texas for 17 seasons, advancing to 16 NCAA tournaments and the 2003 Final Four. He won three Big 12 regular-season titles.
He earlier had coaching stops at George Mason, Providence and Clemson - reaching the NCAA tournament in seven of 11 seasons.
Barnes' next orders of business will be trying to rebuild the program for next season. The Vols lose Admiral Schofield and Kyle Alexander to graduation, and junior point guard Jordan Bone announced his intention to enter his name in the NBA draft. In addition, associate head coach Rob Lanier has left to become the head coach at Georgia State.
The Vols - as of now - return two-time SEC player of the year and consensus All-America forward Grant Williams, who is expected to make an NBA draft decision soon, and seniors-to-be guards Jordan Bowden and Lamonte Turner. Five-star guard Josiah James highlights a three-player signing class.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.