“Some of the passes we throw, I don’t know what to say other than every now and then I wonder if my guys are betting on games,” Barnes said to laughter from reporters before quickly walking back the joke.
“I shouldn’t say that. Delete that,” he then said with his hand in front of his face.
This was an all-timer from Rick Barnes 😂
I asked him about the team’s increased focus and it ended with him talking about certain questionable bad passes.
“Sometimes I wonder if my boys bet on games.” pic.twitter.com/1Q5Au3008b
— Paige Dauer (@PaigeDauerFDP) February 1, 2026
The Volunteers (15-6, 5-3 SEC) are 4-2 in their past six games, but have lost the turnover battle in all six games since a Jan. 10, 91-67 loss to Florida, turning the ball over 86 times in that stretch. Tennessee’s top two scorers this season, senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie (18.6) and five-star freshman forward Nate Ament (16.6), are averaging 2.6 and 2.5 turnovers per game, respectively.
The team ranks second-to-last in the SEC in turnover margin at -1.29, and total turnovers on the season at 275. Tennessee’s turnovers of 13.1 per game are the worst in the conference.
Barnes’ joke came during a volatile time in college athletics regarding game betting.
Earlier in January, federal prosecutors released an indictment charging 26 men with participating in a conspiracy to bribe and rig college basketball games involving previously active college athletes. according to The Athletics.
The indictment alleged a gambling ring involving at least 39 players, 20 of whom were charged, including five who were on college basketball teams this season.
No Tennessee players were named in the allegations, but amid the controversial relationship between gambling and NCAA basketball, Barnes made sure to quickly walk back his statement, even though the joke was rooted in real frustration.
“Was that a bad joke?” Barnes asked the room. “I apologize. I shouldn’t have said that. But the fact is, we have to get smarter. We have to do that, and they know it.”
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