What It’s Like Being Around Rick Barnes At Tournament Time
Image: Tennessee Athletics
By Cody McClure
Tennessee men’s basketball assistant coach Rod Clark appeared on SiriusXM’s college sports channel with Dari Nowkah and Peter Burns this morning.
He was there to talk about Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament, as you might guess.
Nowkah asked Clark how Vols head coach Rick Barnes adjusts to the tournament.
Does he tighten up a little bit? Does he loosen up a little bit?
“I wish you guys could come in our locker room before certain home games,” Clark said. “I remember my first year working for coach [Barnes] and being part of his staff. We had a game… We might have been playing Kentucky… I forgot who we were playing.
“But it’s like ten minutes before we go out on the floor for the game and he’s in the back like playing Golden Tee, the arcade game.”
Clark said he’d never seen anything like it.
“I’m sitting here like, man, is this guy serious? We’ve got a game coming up. And he’s like, ‘Come here, Rod, hey, $5 on this shot.’ … I couldn’t believe it.”
Barnes had told him he’d been coaching so long and there was no reason to be tight when you’re prepared.
“Since I’ve been with him he’s always been like that,” Clark added. “Our preparation is our preparation. When we’re in practice we’re going to be extremely intentional, extremely detailed. When we’re in scouting, in film, the breakdown before the game, it’s extremely detailed. Super locked in.
“But when it comes to the game, man, everybody loosen up and let’s just go do what we do. Our guys carry that same approach. When you get to tournament time everybody’s competitive juices are flowing and everybody’s loose and everybody feels like this is where we’re supposed to be so let’s go out here and do what we’re supposed to do.”
It doesn’t hurt, Clark said, when you’ve got some guys who have been through some wars — like Jahmai Mashack and Zakai Zeigler.
“We’ve been through a lot of wars with those guys … But yeah, coach is not tight by any stretch. He’s as confident as ever when we go into these games.”
Tennessee tips off against Kentucky on Friday night at 7:30 with a spot in the Elite 8 on the line.