Tennessee Basketball announces hire of assistant coach Steve McClain
Tennessee Basketball on Tuesday morning announced the hiring of Steve McClain as an assistant coach. McClain, a 43-year coaching veteran, spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach at Texas under former Longhorns head coach Rodney Terry.
“I want to thank Coach Barnes for the opportunity to join such a fantastic basketball program,” McClain said in a press release announcing the hiring. “I am so excited for the chance to work for a Hall of Famer and can’t wait to be alongside the excellent staff already in place.
“Tennessee is one of the premier athletic departments in the country and it’s truly an honor to be a Volunteer.”
‘His experience, coaching acumen and care for his players will be invaluable’
McClain, 62, started his coaching career in 1982 and was head coach at Hutchinson Community College (1991-94), Wyoming (1998-2007) and Illinois-Chicago (2015-20).
He worked as an assistant coach at TCU, Colorado, Indiana and Georgia, along with Texas.
“Steve is a veteran coach who has accomplished so much over four-plus decades,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said in the press release. “It was an easy decision to seize the chance to hire him here at Tennessee and we’re happy to have him.
“His experience, coaching acumen and care for his players will be invaluable. I am confident Steve will give his all for Tennessee on a daily basis and that our program will benefit from his passion.”
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McClain went 157-115 in his eight seasons at Wyoming, including a win in the first round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament as a No. 11 seed, beating No. 6-seed Gonzaga. He won a junior college national championship in 1994 at Hutchinson after two regional appearances in the NJCAA Tournament.
Tennessee has added two new assistant coaches during offseason
He’s one of two new additions to the Tennessee staff this month, following the hire of Amorrow Morgan. Former Tennessee assistant coach Rod Clark left for Indiana, creating the opening for Morgan.
Clark, who spent the last four seasons at Tennessee, was on McClain final staff in 2019-20.
“I am thrilled to welcome Amorrow to Rocky Top,” Barnes said at the time of the Morgan hiring. “As soon as we knew we had a decision to make, it was immediately clear Amorrow would be our first choice.
“He is a young, energetic coach with a sharp basketball mind who will make an impact with our program from day one. I know he will do all he can to help our players excel and that he will mesh with the strong culture we have in place.”
