Rick Barnes

Richard Dale Barnes (born July 17, 1954) is the current head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers men's basketball team. He coached Texas from 1998 to 2015, taking the team to the NCAA Tournament at the conclusion of seventeen seasons, including a Final Four appearance led by T. J. Ford in 2003. Barnes previously coached at George Mason University, Providence College, and Clemson University. He is a 1977 graduate of Lenoir-Rhyne College where he was a member of the men's basketball team.

Barnes' success at Texas, a traditional football powerhouse, sparked interest in college basketball at the university and throughout the state. Hired in April 1998, the basketball program immediately displayed Barnes' impact. Despite playing with just seven scholarship players for the majority of the 1998–99 season — and opening the season with a 3-8 record — the Longhorns won 16 of their final 21 games, winning the regular season Big 12 conference championship by a two-game margin, and finishing the year at 19-13 and in the NCAA Tournament. Barnes received his third Big 12 Coach of the Year award on March 10, 2008.