As he begins his second decade as Tennessee men’s basketball coach, Rick Barnes needs no introduction.
The Volunteers have become one of the premier teams in the sport, spending the entirety of the past four seasons ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, with that 80-week stretch including 50 weeks in the top 10 and five at No. 1. Tennessee also has two consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament’s Elite Eight after making only one such journey before his 2015 arrival.
Tennessee has won at least 25 games six times in the past eight seasons, reaching 30 victories twice, proving repeatedly that the 71-year-old continues to adapt to his sport’s changing landscape.
“In all my time in college basketball, we’ve had to adapt every year to something,” Barnes said this past week in a news conference. “That just is what it is. There have been so many different changes throughout my career in basketball, and you just adapt or it’s not going to work. With where we are today, I’m very thankful for our administration. They’ve done everything in terms of what we have to do to be competitive and how it has to be done, and I appreciate that. They know exactly what we’ve got to do and our formula, and we’re going to stick with it.
“That’s not to say it may not change tomorrow, but we are in the position where we are always ready to adapt to change and pivot different ways based on where we are and what might happen.”
Barnes is entering his 39th season as a head coach as the active wins leader in Division I men’s basketball with 836, but his 11th version of the Vols could use some name tags.
Only two Vols — 6-foot-11 senior forward Felix Okpara and 6-9 junior forward Cade Phillips — were prominent pieces of last season’s Tennessee team that went 30-8. That shouldn’t be confused for a lack of overall experience, however, as Barnes used the NCAA transfer portal to acquire 6-1 senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie (Maryland), 6-3 senior guard Amaree Abram (Louisiana Tech) and 6-8 junior forward Jaylen Carey (Vanderbilt).
Tennessee also signed 6-3 sophomore guard Ethan Burg, who was a member of Israel’s senior national team this past summer, and a class of five freshmen headed by 6-10 forward Nate Ament that was ranked eighth nationally by 247Sports.com.
“I would think the most consistent guys have been Ja’Kobi and Felix,” Barnes said. “For a young guy, I think Nate Ament has done a pretty good job with that, too, because a lot has been thrown at him. Everyone has shown that they can do it, but it’s just a matter of putting the back-to-back days together.
“I’ve been impressive with Ethan and what he’s done in a short time and being able to pick up the practices. He’s shown a real willingness to figure a whole different game for himself.”
Ament (pronounced AY-ment) was the nation’s No. 4 prospect in the 2025 signing class out of Manassas, Virginia. He is Tennessee’s highest-rated signee in the 247Sports rankings this century, topping Kennedy Chandler in 2021, Tobias Harris in 2010 and Scotty Hopson in 2008.
“When you work as hard as Nate works, he’s going to progress, but it’s all new to him,” Barnes said. “He’s learning to play on the perimeter consistently for the first time in his life. He’s guarding guards now, whereas in high school he was mostly matched against post guys.
“He’s learning how to play a lot away from the basket, and it’s fun, because he’s improving every day. I wouldn’t put a cap on him, because who knows what he might end up being before he’s done here.”
Tennessee will be significantly deeper inside this season with Okpara, Carey, Phillips, 6-11 redshirt sophomore J.P. Estrella, and 6-8, 251-pound freshman DeWayne Brown.
“I’ve watched some tape of our games last year, and we went games on games and didn’t really try to post the ball,” Barnes said. “That’s going to be different, because we’ll have a chance to do that in various ways. That could be a major difference.”
Tennessee’s last two losses last season were to eventual national champion Florida in the Southeastern Conference tournament final and to eventual runner-up Houston in the Elite Eight. The Vols will play Houston at the Players Era Men’s Championship in Las Vegas on Nov. 25, but their first five games are at home against Mercer, Northern Kentucky, North Florida, Rice and Tennessee State.
On Sunday, Oct. 26, Tennessee will host Duke in an exhibition that will be televised at 7 p.m. by ESPN.
“I think the biggest thing is that we’ve got so many new guys, and we’re going to get introduced to those new guys here pretty soon,” Barnes said. “Being around them every day, we’ve got a really good group of guys who have a real commitment to each other, and that’s not just me coach-speaking. That’s one thing that’s shown that we weren’t sure about.
“When you bring in a lot of guys, you wonder how they’re going to blend, and they’ve done a great job of that.”
AP file photo by Michael Conroy / Rick Barnes is preparing for his 11th season as Tennessee’s men’s basketball coach, and the Vols are coming off back-to-back appearances in the NCAA tournament’s Elite Eight.
Making history
Grant Hurst went through senior day festivities in March as a redshirt junior but elected to return for his final season.
Hurst had good reason, because younger sister Lauren is now a freshman guard/forward for Kim Caldwell’s Lady Vols. The two former Cleveland High School standouts are the first brother-sister tandem to play basketball for Tennessee at the same time.
“I think this is a really, really cool position that Lauren and I are in, and I think we both are here for a reason together,” Hurst told UTsports.com. “I think that we’ve already kind of experienced a brother-sister moment that you can’t really put into words, but it will always be in our heart, and it will always be something that we can go back and look on as far as being here together for a year.
“It’s just a feeling of so many different things — love, hard work and appreciation. Above all that, it’s just a true blessing.”
Hurst began his college career at UT Martin and played the past two seasons as a walk-on for the Vols, but he’s now on scholarship.
Green commits
Tennessee has landed the second commitment of its 2026 class, receiving a nonbinding pledge from 6-6, 205-pound forward Manny Green of Cedar Grove High School in the Atlanta suburb of Ellenwood. Green is ranked among the top five Peach State prospects by 247Sports and as the nation’s No. 101 overall recruit.
Green joins forward Ralph Scott (6-8, 190) of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, as four-star prospects to commit to the Vols, whose class is ranked 13th by 247Sports.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.