2025 SEC Tournament

You can pretend Pearl did nothing for this program all you want. It's not reality, tho.
Pearl built/laid the foundation for the house Barnes has created on top of it.
I’d believe this if there wasn’t two coaches in between Pearl and CRB that didn’t meet expectations.

People forget that in Barnes first two seasons (2015-16, 2016-17), he went 15-19 and 16-16 with a roster of 3-star recruits from Tyndall’s lone season.

I give CRB all the credit to go from 16-16 to 25-9 in the 2017-18 season with roughly the same roster.
 
I’d believe this if there wasn’t two coaches in between Pearl and CRB that didn’t meet expectations.

People forget that in Barnes first two seasons (2015-16, 2016-17), he went 15-19 and 16-16 with a roster of 3-star recruits from Tyndall’s lone season.

I give CRB all the credit to go from 16-16 to 25-9 in the 2017-18 season with roughly the same roster.
Just because there was a couple of bad coaches in a short span between Pearl and Barnes doesn’t negate what I said or what Pearl accomplished.

Barnes could retire this year, and we could whiff on the next coach and have 3 years or so of bad basketball. Let's say we nail the next hire after that , and he ends up taking us to and getting us a Natty.
Are you saying that this new coach would have absolutely no reason to thank Barnes for what he has done for the program since he arrived?
Of course not. That would be dumb.

Hopefully, this helps you see how silly it is trying to discount Pearl helping make Tennessee men's basketball into what it is today.
Thanks to him and Barnes, we are no longer just a football and baseball school for men.
 
Maybe go back to Jerry Green then?
You could give him some credit if you wanted to I guess. You going to have a much tougher argument, tho.
Coach Cal and Pope could give credit to Rupp if they wanted to.
Even so, you guys are acting like it wasn't Pearl that put Tennessee men's basketball back on the map (or even on the map in the modern era).
It's silly.
 
Last edited:
Like I said, fanbase absolutely should be thankful for Pearl and what he did here, but Rick inherited a ground up rebuild & was given time to do just that.
And like I said,
Without Pearl and those winning seasons we may not even end up with Barnes.He made/showed the job here was worth taking. He gave Barnes a nice landing spot after Texas. Pearl built that. He also built a culture of winning that lasted despite a few seasons of bad coaching. That says a lot about what Pearl did for us.There is no need to not give him credit for that.

Nothing anyone has said refutes this.
 
Last edited:
Just because there was a couple of bad coaches in a short span between Pearl and Barnes doesn’t negate what I said or what Pearl accomplished.

Barnes could retire this year, and we could whiff on the next coach and have 3 years or so of bad basketball. Let's say we nail the next hire after that , and he ends up taking us to and getting us a Natty.
Are you saying that this new coach would have absolutely no reason to thank Barnes for what he has done for the program since he arrived?
Of course not. That would be dumb.

Hopefully, this helps you see how silly it is trying to discount Pearl helping make Tennessee men's basketball into what it is today.
Thanks to him and Barnes, we are no longer just a football and baseball school for men.
If I understand correctly, by your logic, Rick Barnes should’ve had taken us to the National Championship with the roster of 3-star recruits he inherited from Tyndall because of Bruce Pearl. Makes sense to me.
 
If I understand correctly, by your logic, Rick Barnes should’ve had taken us to the National Championship with the roster of 3-star recruits he inherited from Tyndall because of Bruce Pearl. Makes sense to me.
You keep missing the point, and I think at this point it is intentional. ( Pearl hate?)

Without Pearl having those winning seasons the job at Tennessee is not going to be desirable enough for Barnes to even want.
We couldn't get a head coach worth a flip before Pearl. Certainly not a big name head coach. Like another poster said, he showed "if you build it they will come".
Besides that, he showed there was an appetite for winning men's basketball here as much as there was for football.
He also proved to other big name coaches you could be successful here.
I'm telling you, without those winning seasons by from Pearl, Barnes doesn’t come here and have a nice spot to set up shop after Texas ran him off.
 
Last edited:
You keep missing the point, and I think at this point it is intentional. ( Pearl hate?)

Without Pearl having those winning seasons the job at Tennessee is not going to be desirable enough for Barnes to even want.
We couldn't get a head coach worth a flip before Pearl. Certainly not a big name head coach. Like another poster said, he showed "if you build it they will come".
Besides that, he showed there was an appetite for winning men's basketball here as much as there was for football.
He also proved to other big name coaches you could be successful here.
I'm telling you, without those winning seasons by from Pearl, Barnes doesn’t come here and have a nice spot to set up shop after Texas ran him off.
We can agree to disagree. Don’t have much else to add that hasn’t already been said.
 
You keep missing the point, and I think at this point it is intentional. ( Pearl hate?)

Without Pearl having those winning seasons the job at Tennessee is not going to be desirable enough for Barnes to even want.
We couldn't get a head coach worth a flip before Pearl. Certainly not a big name head coach. Like another poster said, he showed "if you build it they will come".
Besides that, he showed there was an appetite for winning men's basketball here as much as there was for football.
He also proved to other big name coaches you could be successful here.
I'm telling you, without those winning seasons by from Pearl, Barnes doesn’t come here and have a nice spot to set up shop after Texas ran him off.
He caused a lot of damage, lied to investigators, lied to the administration, violated substance abuse policy rules, and left us reeling. It took a very long time to get our feet under us. Hiring Rick was a happy accident that benefited from some crazy timing. We were not an attractive program after Tyndall. Barnes has succeeded everywhere he’s been. He built this program based on his integrity and the integrity of his players. He’s the opposite of Pearl. He cleaned up the wreckage Pearl left. He doesn’t need to thank him. I don’t dislike Pearl, but I sure don’t pine for him. He still attracts players I don’t want and culture I don’t want. No one is missing your point. You’re relentless, but you’re wrong, again.
 
Last edited:
He caused a lot of damage, lied to investigators, lied to the administration, violated substance abuse policy rules, and left us reeling. It took a very long time to get our feet under us. Hiring Rick was a happy accident that benefited from some crazy timing. We were not an attractive program after Tyndall. Barnes has succeeded everywhere he’s been. He built this program based on his integrity and the integrity of his players. He’s the opposite of Pearl. He cleaned up the wreckage Pearl left. He doesn’t need to thank him. I don’t dislike Pearl, but I sure don’t pine for him. He still attracts players I don’t want and culture I don’t want. No one is missing your point. You’re relentless, but you’re wrong, again.
There were only four years between Pearl being fired and Barnes being hired. What is this about violating substance abuse policy rules?
 
Without Pearl and those winning seasons we may not even end up with Barnes.
He made/showed the job here was worth taking.
He gave Barnes a nice landing spot after Texas.
Pearl built that. He also built a culture of winning that lasted despite a few seasons of bad coaching. That says a lot about what Pearl did for us.
There is no need to not give him credit for that.
If we look at it that way we need to credit Mears, Devoe and Green too. Barnes himself is responsible for our current success.
 
We can agree to disagree. Don’t have much else to add that hasn’t already been said.
Fair enough. Too much good basketball to watch to argue over something so silly.

I will say one last thing if I could...

I have actually already heard coach Rick Barnes say he is thankful for what Pearl accomplished here at Tennessee.
When Tennessee fired Don DeVoe in 1989 Barnes met with Dickey about the job here.
Two of Barnes close friends (reporters John Feinstein and Dave Gavitt ) told Barnes not to take the job at Tennessee because people in Tennessee don't care about men's basketball.
Barnes listened to them and passed on the job.

Barnes said in a more recent r interview:

" That was the perception, and it didn't have anything to do with Doug Dickey. That's just where the league was. They were set on being the beat football program in the country"

You see, I don't really have to doubt Barnes most likely doesn't take the job if not for Pearl because he already had pased on it once.
What changed? Ask yourself that.....
 
He caused a lot of damage, lied to investigators, lied to the administration, violated substance abuse policy rules, and left us reeling. It took a very long time to get our feet under us. Hiring Rick was a happy accident that benefited from some crazy timing. We were not an attractive program after Tyndall. Barnes has succeeded everywhere he’s been. He built this program based on his integrity and the integrity of his players. He’s the opposite of Pearl. He cleaned up the wreckage Pearl left. He doesn’t need to thank him. I don’t dislike Pearl, but I sure don’t pine for him. He still attracts players I don’t want and culture I don’t want. No one is missing your point. You’re relentless, but you’re wrong, again.
He has already expressed gratitude to Pearl, bud.
It's a little too late now. lol
 
“Todd, congrats on the win. In your wildest dreams, did you think you could have a season like this while you were sending d*** pics to Florida coeds?”
 
If we look at it that way we need to credit Mears, Devoe and Green too. Barnes himself is responsible for our current success.

Green actually had to build from nothing too, Wade & O’Neill had 1 over 500 season in their combined 8 years here and were both sub 38% in SEC play.

Green won a SEC regular season title & made a Sweet Sixteen in his 4 years and is ahead of Pearl in winning % at UT too.
 
  • Like
Reactions: EasternVol

VN Store



Back
Top