Rick Barnes provides injury update on Tobe Awaka

According to Rick Barnes, Tennessee F Tobe Awaka is doing just fine after what was a leg injury last night against Saint Peter’s in the NCAA Tournament. He was actually well enough to where the sophomore could have returned to the action if there’d been a need.

Barnes updated Awaka’s status following the 83-49 win for the No. 2 Volunteers over the Peacocks in the Round of 64 on Thursday. He said that Awaka would have been good to go but they elected to take it easy with him. That’s especially so because they know him to go out there regardless of how he actually feels.

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“He’s okay,” said Barnes. “He felt he had a little something with his right hip up high or something.”

“We could have played him more but we decided not to just to make sure,” Barnes said. “Tobe is one of those guys that, sometimes, he won’t tell you the truth. He just wants to play so badly that we weren’t going to take a chance with him, even though he felt he could go a little bit more.”

Awaka played 11 minutes for Tennessee in the 34-point, opening-round win in Charlotte. He led them off the bench with eight points by making three of his four shots along with four rebounds. Those efforts helped the Volunteers to knock down 50.9% of their shots. It also was part of them grabbing 47 rebounds, a total that more than doubled-up the Peacocks.

Tennessee was just trying to be precautionary with Awaka, especially in the postseason with the game already well-past being in hand. That sets the expectation that he will be available for the Round of 32 against No. 7 Texas on Saturday.

“They kept him warmed up out there in the hallway a little bit,” said Barnes. “He could have played more. We just decided not to do it.”

Barnes pushes back on NCAA Tournament expansion

As the 2024 NCAA Tournament begins, conversations about the shifting landscape of college athletics remain ongoing. Many are wondering if college basketball might follow the same track as college football, which has recently expanded its playoff field to make it more inclusive.

Still, count at least Tennessee’s Rick Barnes out on expanding the field.

“I don’t know where the future of the intercollegiate athletics is going with leagues getting bigger, things like that. But, where we are today, I don’t think you can ask a team to win more than six games to win a national championship,” Barnes said. “It’s really demanding, if you ask me.”

If the field is to expand, Barnes sees one avenue that might work. It isn’t doubling the field or allowing a ton more teams to make the field.

“If there’s teams that are right there that are worthy to be in? Maybe you could add four more for play-in games, things like that,” Barnes said. “But teams have had great years or teams — again, winning six games in this tournament is hard. It’s really, really hard.”

For Barnes, there’s nothing wrong with the current NCAA Tournament format.

“I think we do have a three-week window here where we captivate the country. We’re in, I think, the most exciting sporting event because every state in the country can be represented some way, somehow,” Barnes said. “I’m not for expanding the tournament to make it a national champion having to win more than six games to get there.”