New assistant coach Steve McClain explains why he joined Rick Barnes on Tennessee's staff

New Tennessee Basketball assistant coach and coaching veteran Steve McClain met with reporters on Wednesday, explaining why he took the job with Rick Barnes and the Vols:

Working in the SEC, his impressions of Tennessee’s program from afar

“Well I think when you talk about Tennessee, you start with toughness and winning. When you put those two things together, that’s what this program has been. And not just winning, but Elite Eights. Back to back Elite Eights and at the top of the SEC, which as we all know a year ago, was the best conference in the country and the best it had ever been.”

His first impressions of the roster

“Well, again, the guys just getting in here and knowing the returning guys, knowing the recruits, It’s a very talented roster. It’s a roster that’s built to play the way coach plays and in the world we’re living in today, you replace and you get ready for another championship run. There is no, well we’re waiting for a year. No, you’re losing great players, which there’s no question we did. And yet you’re plugging in and getting ready for guys that fit right into the culture.” 

How far his relationship with Barnes goes back

“Well, we go back quite a ways. From the time he was at Providence to when I was a junior college coach and we’ve known each other through the years, and coached against each other, but more of a relationship out of respect and knowing what he’s done in his career and what I’ve been fortunate to be able to be a part of in my career.”

If working for Rodney Terry is similar to working for Rick Barnes

“Well, I don’t know. This will be my first time with Rick, but you know what? I’ve heard a lot of stories, so I think I’m ready for it. But, yeah, there’s no question Coach had a great influence on Rodney and his name would be brought up a lot around the office at Texas. So, no, there’s no question. And then having competed against him at Texas and Tennessee. It seemed like we were always playing. I think it gave me a great feel of what coach does every day.”

Having a good relationship with Tennessee five-star freshman Nate Ament, being able to coach him now

“Well, you know, I recruited him for two years and then didn’t get him, so to be able to, when we knew this was going to work out — he’s an unbelievable young man and you start there with him. When I started recruiting him two years ago,  that’s what attracted you. Was just a high-level kid from a high-level family and the people around him. I guess I lost, but got the opportunity to come here and get a chance to coach him in Knoxville.”

What Rick Barnes has built at Tennessee, if that was a draw

“Well, there’s no question and if you’re a basketball purist, you follow what people do and when you look at coach’s track record, everywhere he’s been, it ends up in high-level winning. I don’t know whether it was a privilege, but we came in here three years ago with a team that was highly ranked and went to the Elite Eight and came in here and got our tails whipped by about 20 and I saw what the Vol Nation was all about. So there was no question having seen all that, then when coach called, yeah, no, I was all in to come be a part of it.”

What he believes he will add to the program

“Well, you know, you come into a new environment and you hope what you bring is just an energy, a familiarity to a degree of what coach expects. And I think this in coaching, you always try to be a part of somewhere that the beliefs are a lot what you’ve grown up with. And knowing Coach (Gregg) Polinsky, knowing Coach (Justin) Gainey, knowing the people that are involved in this program. We’ve got one of the best strength coaches (Garrett Medenwald) in the country. I’d already heard about him before I ever walked in here. And so you try to find a match that you know you can walk in and hopefully just continue to build on what the energy and the enthusiasm in the program, and yet understand, it’s not about you. I think that’s the motto of this program. It’s not about one individual and those are the best teams, you know, that I’ve ever been a part of, is when everybody just does their job and the end result is what happens on the court. I feel fortunate to be here and be a part of that.”

What it says about Tennessee that it was one of two programs to not lose a player to the transfer portal

“Well, it tells you all about Coach and the staff. You don’t lose players because guys want to be here. It tells you about Vol Nation. It tells you about Danny White, the athletic director. You go up and down the University of Tennessee’s athletic department, and from the day I got here, you find nothing but people that want to help. How can we make it easier for you? And so you go back to your question. Why do kids not leave here? Because they’ve got everything they could ask for here. They’ve got an elite head coach who put together an elite staff. Justin Gainey, a guy that should be a head coach right now. You’re talking about an environment where, what’s a kid going to get better anywhere else? And I think what Coach has proven over time is, if you stay with him, you’ll eventually get where you want to get. And some people can’t prove that. That’s why they lose players. Coach has proven he can do it.”

If he has any prior relationships with any of the players in addition to Nate Ament

“No, not really. I knew about Ja’Kobi (Gillespie), of course, being in the portal. Everybody knows about everybody. But no. I played against, of course, Vanderbilt. So I knew about (Jaylen Carey). And then the young kids. I had seen a lot of them in the NBA Top-100 camp a year ago. So you kind of have a feel for everybody.”