Rick Barnes nets $400,000 bonus for winning SEC regular season title

The Tennessee basketball team has been in the middle of one of the best seasons in school history in the 2023-2024 campaign. And as the Volunteers continue to stack up wins on the court, Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes continues to stack up the bonus money. On Wednesday evening, according to Steve Berkowitz, Barnes landed a $400,000 bonus after his team clinched the SEC regular season title. They took down South Carolina, 66-59.

The Volunteers are currently battling for one of the No. 1 overall seeds in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. According to Joe Lunardi’s latest version of Bracketology, Tennessee is currently the No. 4 overall seed in the big dance, making them the fourth No. 1 seed in the bracket. They currently sit at 24-6 overall, and they joined Auburn and Alabama as two-time regular season champs in the past seven seasons.

The straw that has stirred the drink this year for Tennessee has been Dalton Knecht. He erupted for 26 points on Wednesday night against South Carolina and he’s been playing like one of the best players in America for much of the 2023-2024 season. He’ll not only be up for SEC Player of the Year honors, but National Player of the Year honors. Knecht is currently averaging 20.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists while shooting 47.8% from the field. He’s also stroking 40.2% of his shots from deep.

Barnes has done a tremendous job with the Tennessee program. During his time in Knoxville, the Volunteers have made five straight NCAA Tournaments (2018-2023), won at least 25 games four times, and earned a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament four times. Tennessee has also spent four weeks at No. 1 in the country during that time frame.

Barnes was named the 2019 Naismith Coach of the Year after he led the Vols to a school-record tying 31 wins and a Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Tennessee also had a program-record 19 game win streak. Three of their wins that year were over Top 5 opponents.

He’s had no shortage of talent in his time in Knoxville. Every great coach needs great talent and Barnes has reeled in a McDonald’s All-American for four straight years from 2019 to 2022. In 2019, he signed Josiah Jordan James, in 2020, he landed Jaden Springer, in 2021, he reeled in Kennedy Chandler, and in 2022, Barnes brought in Julian Phillips.