Tennessee Basketball Coach Wants Players to ‘Understand Who Jesus Christ Is’
By Movieguide® Contributor
The Tennessee Volunteers currently lead the Associated Press men’s basketball poll as they sit 11-0 this season, and that’s thanks, in large part, to head coach Rick Barnes.
“The leadership’s great,” Barnes said of why his team is No. 1. “We wouldn’t be where we were if this group didn’t care about each other, like each other and…continue to push each other.”
According to Sports Spectrum, “In Barnes’ nine full seasons in Knoxville, the Volunteers have won two SEC regular-season titles (2017-18 and 2023-24), an SEC Tournament title (2022) and reached the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 three times. They have been ranked in the top five of the AP poll in four consecutive seasons. Tennessee is the fourth program Barnes has coached to the NCAA Tournament and the third he has led to a conference title.”
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But more than anything, Barnes wants his players to know who Jesus is.
“Honestly, I just think the biggest thing is that we should want to share our faith,” he said on the “Sports Spectrum Podcast” in 2019. “We should want our players to understand who Jesus Christ is. They should see us living that every single day.”
READ MORE: TENNESSEE COACH RICK BARNES GIVES GLORY TO GOD AFTER WINNING SEC CHAMPIONSHIP
“What I learned is that when He gets a hold of you, He’s never gonna let you go,” he added. “He’s gonna keep crafting you. We know that He’s the potter and we’re the clay, and I’m just praying that He will continue to mold me into the person He wants me to be.”
In another episode with Sport Spectrum’s “Table Forty” podcast, Barnes talked about the importance of faith in life.
“I’m just thankful that God, you know, He won’t let go of you,” the head coach said. “I don’t think there’s any question He had me when I was young, but I let the world take me down a road and roads that I shouldn’t have gone. But I believe that once He gets a hold of you, He won’t let you go. I think He has great plans to help me become more and more like Him every day.”
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