Everything Comes Full Circle For Tennessee's Rick Barnes, Five Years After UCLA Deal Fell Through

LEXINGTON, KY - They say everything in life happens for a reason, right? For Tennessee's Rick Barnes, playing against UCLA on Saturday night for a spot in the sweet sixteen is a full-circle moment.  It is one of those moments where you ask ‘what if?’ when it comes to where his career is now, compared to where it might've been. 

Heading into tonight's game against UCLA, the Tennessee head coach will lead his team against a school that was very close to stealing him just four seasons ago. 

Following a postseason exit in 2019, there was a point where the Vols head coach was almost out the door for UCLA, after the school had fired Steve Alford. This was a ‘dream job’ opportunity for a coach who has done everything in college basketball besides winning a national championship. 

Growing up watching John Wooden coach UCLA on television, then having the opportunity to attend the ‘Campbell College basketball camp’ which Wooden would be a featured speaker at, Barnes was infatuated with the legendary Bruins coach. He held UCLA to the highest standard, always wondering if there would be a time when he'd be lucky enough to coach at the same school as one of his heroes. 

After leading Tennessee to 51 wins over the two previous seasons, being named the Naismith coach of the year and earning a spot in the sweet sixteen during the 2018-2019 season, the Bruins finally came calling for Barnes. Though he had only been the head coach in Knoxville for two years, this type of job doesn’t come open very often, especially one that he would consider a dream opportunity. 

So when UCLA picked up the phone and started to gauge the interest of Rick Barnes, it was clear that he was going to take a hard look at moving to the West Coast. 

"The whole situation came up with UCLA. The first thing that went through my mind was me, the fact growing up with UCLA basketball. Back when I was in eighth grade, my mother and a friend spent $56 to send me to Campbell College basketball camp, which was the oldest camp in the country and still is the oldest basketball camp in the country. And the reason I wanted to go to that camp was John Wooden and Pistol Pete Maravich were the two featured people. That’s the reason I wanted to go," Barnes said in 2019. 

And to be honest, I don't think many people would've held it against him. At that time, even though they were winning, Barnes wasn’t a tenured Knoxville resident just yet. There was clearly a portion of the Tennessee fan base that was agitated with Barnes almost heading out the door, and it's still brought up to this day on local radio shows from time to time. 

UCLA Wouldn’t Pay The Buyout For Rick Barnes. It Wasn’t Meant To Be

So why didn’t it come to fruition for Barnes and UCLA? Well, it wasn’t because he didn’t want the job, or that he had second thoughts. It came down to money, more importantly, a buyout that UCLA was not willing to pay at the time, as Barnes discussed during that infamous press conference in 2019. 

"There was a lot going on. When you get down to a situation like that, it has to make sense from a financial standpoint. It does have to," Barnes mentioned. "The bottom line is we just really couldn’t work it out with the buyout. In terms of what was going to be that part of it. In the meantime, Tennessee, after I met with UCLA, I point-blank said to them I can’t do anything else until I had a chance to talk to Tennessee.

"I said I’m not going to walk out of here and not meet with my team."

KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - FEBRUARY 05: Head Coach Rick Barnes of the Tennessee Volunteers reacts to a play during the first half at Thompson-Boling Arena on February 05, 2025 in Knoxville, Tennessee.  (Photo by Johnnie Izquierdo/Getty Images)

If you think about that in this period of college athletics, it's almost laughable that a buyout would be the reason why a school doesn’t hire a coach, especially with the money being spent in athletics right now. Think about how much money has been spent over the last five years on buyouts that involve college football coaches, with Jimbo Fisher being a perfect example. 

What if UCLA would've paid the buyout? Would Tennessee have a different coach leading them right now? To the credit of Rick Barnes, he never wavered in his answers, giving a very blunt, but repeatable answer to the question. 

"I think I would have been the coach at UCLA. I’ve said that to people before. I really felt at that time that that’s what would have happened. But with that said, and I’m gonna say it again, when it got down to that point, I can’t tell you again how much, in my mind, I guess I should say, I prayed, and one of the last prayers I prayed after Candy told me, ‘Will you make a decision,’ in my mind I know what I had prayed. I asked God for total clarity. And when they came back with their decision, I knew that I’m not supposed to be the coach at UCLA."

OMAHA, NEBRASKA - JUNE 24: Head coaches Josh Heupel, Tony Vitello, and Rick Barnes of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrate after game three of the Division I Men's Baseball Championship against the Texas A&M Aggies held at Charles Schwab Field on June 24, 2024 in Omaha, Nebraska.  (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

But everything happens for a reason. When Tennessee takes to the court on Saturday night against UCLA, I'd imagine there will be some thoughts that roll through the mind of Barnes, but also knowing that he has cemented himself in Tennessee lore since that time in 2019. 

Speaking about the UCLA saga on Friday, Barnes shared the same feelings that he did in 2019, but also thinks the Bruins made a fantastic hire in Mick Cronin. 

"So when UCLA called, it was certainly an honor because obviously of the respect growing up," Barnes noted. "I remember staying up late at night in the '60s when Dick Enberg would come on at 11:30 on east coast time. And they might play once a year. And watching those games and the great run he put together.

"But when I got the call, obviously for a lot of reasons I listened and we met, and we talked about the possibility of that. And I just did a radio interview and they asked what I remember most. I remember a lot of prayer. Because I felt really blessed to have had the opportunity to come to Tennessee, and I will forever be thankful to Randy Boyd and when we were in that part of the negotiation, the commitment that he made."

Are We Seeing The Final Years Of Rick Barnes At Tennessee? 

The talk of Rick Barnes potentially retiring after this season has been a constant point of discussion around the Knoxville community this season. In this day and age of college athletics, with the transfer portal and NIL playing such an important factor in success, we've seen coaches walk away over the past few years. 

What was once a problem for Rick Barnes, the head coach has turned a corner when it comes to adapting to the times. He doesn’t have the same attitude for the transfer portal and NIL as he did when all of this first started, actually thriving with guys he has recruited from other schools. I think Dalton Knecht would be a perfect example of that from last season. 

CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS - DECEMBER 14: Zakai Zeigler #5 talks with head coach Rick Barnes of the Tennessee Volunteers during the game against the Illinois Fighting Illini at State Farm Center on December 14, 2024 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)

But, the head coach recruited Zakai Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack straight out of high school. Two players that have been through the trenches with Tennessee and Rick Barnes over the past five years, with both of them playing in their final games in a Vols uniform. So the question has been asked about whether he'd go out with them both. And to be honest, it's a fair question for a coach who has given everything to college basketball. 

I'm certainly not implying that Barnes should ride off into the sunset, but I promise you that the head coach has thought about when it's time to hang it up. Having been involved in college basketball since 1974, there comes a point when a guy just wants to spend time with his family, and enjoy life outside the sport. 

On the other hand, there are coaches who live for the game, with a family that will support them for as long as they want to pace the sidelines.