Rick Barnes becomes a Tennessee -volunteer for life.
No, really.
On Thursday, Tennessee announced that the 71-year-old Barnes, who starts his 11th season with De Vols, had signed a lifelong contract. The Barnes deal, originally established to expire on April 15, 2028, pays him $ 6 million annually, According to the Knoxville News-Severinel. The new contract is automatically extended every April 15 to add three years, as long as Barnes wants to coach.
“Rick has brought our program to unprecedented heights, and we are absolutely delighted to let him coach the rest of his career at Rocky Top,” said Athletic Director Danny White in a statement in a statement. “He has built this program in the right way and achieved the success of elite level on the field, while it also ensures that our players excel from the field.”
Barnes is the most successful coach in the basketball history of Tennessee. He has gone in Knoxville 232-109 (.664) in the last decade, including a record of 112-67 in the SEC.
He won three sec championships, was to two elite eight and led the vols to 25 wins or more in six of the last eight seasons.
It is rare, but not unheard of schools to promise lifelong loyalty to their coaches. In November 2001, Duke awarded former coach Mike Krzyzewski a lifelong contract, believed as the first in collegial athletics. Krzyzewski retired in 2022 as the leader of all time in men’s lectures with 1,202 victories.
Kansas coach Bill Self and Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo have similar deals. Signed his deal in 2021. Izzo signed his most recent contract, a five -year -old rolling deal, in 2022.
Barnes is the active division-i wins leader with 836 victories for 38 seasons; Itself is second with 831 and Izzo is fifth with 737.
Tennessee comes from a season of 30-8 where De Vols lost in the Elite Eight of Houston, the final national second place. In the spring, Ut scored a recruitment coup with the signing of Nate Ament, a 6-foot-9 attacker who is the highest ranked recruit in the basketball history of UT men. De Vols return starter Felix Okpara and JP Estrella, who missed most of last season, and took a crucial transfer in Ja’kobi Gillespie from Maryland. UT is probably ranked in the top 20 of the preseason.
(Photo: Johnnie Izquierdo / Getty images)
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