Rick Barnes addresses postgame message to Jonas Aidoo, fan reaction to return

Jonas Aidoo made his return to Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville to deafening boos from the Tennessee faithful in attendance Saturday.

From his first steps out of the visitor tunnel to his on-court introduction to nearly every time he so much as touched the ball, Volunteers fans made their animus for the Arkansas center and former Tennessee transfer known throughout Saturday’s 76-52 home win in the SEC opener for both teams.

Suffice it to say, No. 1 Tennessee head men’s basketball coach Rick Barnes didn’t share the same sentiment as the Vol fans, and openly expressed his love and appreciation for Aidoo during the postgame handshake line.

“Well I love Jonas, and when I shook his hand, I hugged him and said, ‘Jonas, I love you,’ and I do love him,” Barnes said in his postgame press conference. “You know, He found a situation that was really hard for him to turn down, and he did it, which I have no problems with. I think it was hard, because he did a lot for us when he was here. But I with him nothing but the best.

“I’d say the same thing about Cam Carr,” Barnes continued. “Jahmai Mashack said it best, he said, ‘All we can do is pray for them and wish them the best. But we’ve got to take care our business here and keep moving.’ And that’s what we’ve done.”

Carr, a sophomore guard, surprisingly opted to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal on Dec. 23 after appearing in four games with the top-ranked Volunteers.

For his part, the 6-foot-11 Aidoo struggled in his return to Knoxville, managing just four points on 2-of-3 shooting and five total rebounds in 29 minutes of action for the Razorbacks.

Aidoo is averaging just 6.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game through 11 games this season with Arkansas, well off his pace last season with the Vols, when he averaged 11.4 points and 7.3 rebounds in 2023-24.

Meanwhile, Tennessee big men Igor Millicic Jr. and Felix Okpara combined for 23 points and 22 rebounds against the Razorbacks on Saturday, including a double-double 13 points and 18 rebounds from Millicic.

Rick Barnes explains departure of Cameron Carr from Tennessee’s roster

Cam Carr surprised everyone on Rocky Top yesterday with his decision to eventually enter the NCAA Transfer Portal.

Following the 82-64 win for No. 1 Tennessee over MTSU on Dec. 23, Barnes addresses that choice to just leave by the sophomore. He said that he had no clue what went into it because no one knew that that was coming from him.

“No idea, you know,” Barnes said as he shrugged. “He just walked out.”

Barnes doesn’t know why they’d choose to do this at this point of the season, let alone at all, either.

“No. Not really,” said Barnes. “I think they probably didn’t understand the rule. I’m just, again – I don’t know that but that’s what I would assume.”

Sam Gillenwater contributed to this report.