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'We've got that position covered': What Rick Barnes said about Rod Clark leaving for Indiana

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•04/30/25•

GrantRamey

KNOXVILLE, TN - 2024.01.06 - Tennessee vs. Ole Miss
KNOXVILLE, TN - January 06, 2024 - Assistant Coach Rod Clark and Guard Dalton Knecht #3 of the Tennessee Volunteers during the game between the Ole Miss Rebels and the Tennessee Volunteers at Food City Center in Knoxville, TN. Photo By Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics

It doesn’t sound like Rick Barnes was blindsided by assistant coach Rod Clark leaving Tennessee for a spot on the Indiana coaching staff working for first-year Hoosiers head coach Darian DeVries.

And it doesn’t sound like the open seat on the Vols’ bench will be open too long.

“Rod was great,” Barnes said Wednesday night during his media session at the Big Orange Caravan Stop in Nashville, “but you know what? We feel we’ve got that position covered.”

It was reported Wednesday afternoon that Clark, after four years at Tennessee, had been hired by DeVries at Indiana. DeVries spent last season at West Virginia after six years as Drake’s head coach. He spent the previous 17 years as an assistant at Creighton. 

Tennessee hired Rod Clark from Austin Peay in April 2021

Barnes hired Clark in April 2021 from Austin Peay. Clark spent one season with the Governors and one season at Illinois-Chicago. The Kansas City native was an assistant coach at Sunrise Christian Academy in Kansas and involved with the MoKan Elite AAU program before getting his start as a college basketball assistant coach. 

At Tennessee he quickly became known as a fearless and productive recruiter while playing a big role in player development once he got players on campus. 

He was the primary recruiter for two of Tennessee’s biggest stars over the last two seasons in transfers Chaz Lanier and Dalton Knecht. He was also the primary recruiter Tobe Awaka, BJ Edwards, JP Estrella and Amari Evans.

Clark helped the Vols land Louisiana Tech transfer guard Amaree Abram earlier this week. Abram visited on Monday, then committed to and signed with the Vols on Tuesday.

“Coach Clark is kind of the reason why I committed,” Abram said. “He made me feel like home and made me feel comfortable.“

Rick Barnes on the staff opening: ‘We’ve got it pretty much filled’

Barnes explained that Tennessee’s recruiting process will continue as it always has, with multiple coaches involved with a prospect.

“Everything we do at Tennessee,” he said, “it is not a one-man recruit. We have never done that. We have recruited as a staff. We believe in that because we just feel like situations like this (happen). We want everybody that we recruit to know everybody on our staff. We crisscross for that.”

Clark leaving for Indiana is the first change on the Tennessee coaching staff since Schwartz left to become head coach at East Carolina. Schwartz was replaced by Gregg Polinsky, who was promoted from a volunteer analyst position. 

Barnes said Wednesday that Clark’s replacement will not be an in-house promotion but instead will be filled by an outside candidate.

“(Clark) will, I am sure, do a good job at Indiana,” Barnes said. “We’ve got it covered because there’s a lot of people that would obviously love to be at the University of Tennessee … we are excited about the direction that we are going and we’ve got it pretty much filled.”

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