Rick Barnes credits Tennessee's young players' growth

Rick Barnes has kept the Tennessee Volunteers among the best teams in the nation over the last couple of seasons, and the 2023-2024 campaign has shaped up similarly.

The Volunteers are looking poised to make a run this season, and part of that is due to their blend of talented young players and experienced veterans. Speaking with the media as Tennessee looks to continue their impressive start, Barnes singled out the newbies, elaborating on their growth this season.

“I do (think they are stepping up). And again, it all goes back to practice. You know, you wanna see a guy take a step forward, you don’t wanna see ’em go back a half a step or a step. And it’s consistency. And that’s where most guys come up short,” Barnes explained. “You know, some teams you have to play ’em regardless, and that’s where a lot of teams sometimes are up and down because they’re having to learn on the fly. But this team, we got older guys, so these younger guys if they earn those minutes, it’s because they’ve earned it. And they’ve done it through being consistent in practice, understanding the role they need to be in and what they need to do in terms of our schemes and everything that we’re about.

“But like I said, we trust these guys, but it’s up to us to continue to help ’em get where we need them to be.”

Alas, for some teams it can be hard to trust younger players, as many gravitate towards older, more experienced options. However, in a sport where some of the best are one-and-done, you have to be able to figure out how to get the best out of your players in quick fashion, and that’s what Barnes can do.

It’s part of the reason why the Volunteers have been able to win in a myriad of different ways this season, which makes them so difficult to plan for as the days go bu.

“You’re going have to be able to do that, (win in) different ways,” Barnes said. “Different teams are going to do different (things), but we went through that some in the preseason. And again, I go back to our preseason, non-league schedule, a lot of thought went into it. 

“Coach Polinksy did a great job getting us different styles, knowing that we were going to play against some teams that would try to put us in long offensive possessions and shorten the game. So, yeah, you do have to do that. You got to be able to play differently.”

Rick Barnes’ system is working, and Tennessee looks dangerous moving forward. We’ll see if the Volunteers can keep it up over the next couple of months.