Rick Barnes' Key Comments Before Tennessee's Exhibition vs. Duke

Rick Barnes Shares Insights Ahead of Tennessee's Exhibition Game Against Duke

Rick Barnes recently spoke to the media ahead of the Vols' exhibition game against the Duke Blue Devils. Here is what he had to say.

Excitement Over a Sold-Out Exhibition Game

Barnes expressed his enthusiasm about the event, stating, “Well, I love it, man. I think players do. I think most coaches do, and I think most of us really would love to have more of them. We’ve practiced for a long time in the summer months and into the fall, and I just think they benefit all of us. Last weekend against Ohio State, obviously in a closed session, was great for both teams. We both came into it with an agenda, and we were able to get out of it what we wanted to. And obviously, this is different in front of a great crowd here at the Food City Center and certainly a great opponent, a young Duke team that’s extremely well coached. Jon (Scheyer) has always done a great job since he’s taken over that great program, and we’re excited about it. And I’m sure we’re excited to see somebody else, too."

Tennessee's Possible Starters

Barnes shared his thoughts on the potential starting lineup, saying, “Not yet. I think after today’s practice we’ll get closer to it, and it’s right there. I mean, with this group, I could tell you there’s probably eight guys that we could consider. And a lot of it will be based on where we think some of the guys have been out a little bit, where they are from an injury standpoint. They’re all ready, but some of them aren’t 100% yet, so we’ll decide after today, probably.”

The Role of Exhibition Games

When asked about how exhibitions come together, Barnes explained, “Well, again, we reach out. There’s a lot of different ways that you think about doing these exhibitions. Obviously, you can have them both open to the public. And we thought we had a couple of different things. I mean, there’s some things going on within our league, where the league’s talking about, like, when we go down and play Alabama football on a Friday night, we would scrimmage Alabama. And teams that you know that your football teams are going to play you every year, that’s been a discussion in the league that. Again, I’m good with it. I think a lot of coaches in the league are. But then, if you don’t do that, we thought we were going to have a scrimmage against Michigan, and that fell through right at the end. But, you know, Gregg Polinsky is in charge of our scheduling, and he does a great job, and word gets out there that teams are looking for different programs to play. And him being on top of it, and then we got into a conversation with him, and we went back and forth, where it was going to be played, and ended up deciding to come here, which obviously our fans are excited. I was told it sold out in three days. But sometimes things just pop up a little.”

Reflections on Tony Vitello's Move to the Giants

Barnes shared his feelings about Tony Vitello accepting the Giants job, saying, “Well, I love Tony. I’m gonna really miss him. And he did one of the great building jobs. I mean, what he did here in a short time to turn this program around and take it to a national championship, and I know what he went through. I can think back to when I was somewhere in that age where I had the opportunity to go to a couple of different places, but never had the chance to make a jump from college to the professional league like he did. Being the first coach, it’s unbelievable. And I’m sure the emotions that he went through were wide, very hard, because I know that he loved what he had built here and what he had going. I know that when something like that comes, when you have a chance to go do something that’s never been done, and with one of the great franchises ever. But to me, you think about the lifestyle change. He goes from what, playing 60-some games to 160-some with a couple months, I guess, down in Florida before that gets started. Obviously, leaving here, going to California is all different, but I can assure you that when he met with his team and he left them, it was very emotional. And because when you change, it’s tough. But you guys know how I always feel like God has a plan for all of us, and his plan is that this is where Tony is right now.”

What Barnes Will Miss Most About Vitello

Barnes reflected on what he will miss most about Vitello, saying, “Well, I loved his enthusiasm. I mean, I love him. I love him. He was around. I loved the fact he’d come over here and wear his Zakai Zeigler jersey and, you know, the fan base, everyone fell in love with him because everyone loves a guy that comes in and goes about his business the way he did to build a championship team and program. I hope he wins a World Series. I do. I’d love to see him do that, obviously. But Tony is a baseball guy. I mean, I don’t know there’s a better sport in the world that you can do until you’re forever old, get out and hit and all that stuff. He’ll be missed because he came in here and did what he was hired to do and put himself in position, a professional franchise thought it was worth taking him as a first collegiate coach to ever do that.”

Ethan Burg's Progress

Barnes shared his thoughts on Ethan Burg, stating, “Getting better, getting more and more settled in, understand what he needs to do. Just learning. I mean, again, he hasn’t had 20 practices yet, but he’s not disappointed in any way. He’s just continued to settle in with what he needs to do.”

Expectations for the Game Against Duke

When asked about what he wants to see from the team against Duke, Barnes said, “Trust. Can we trust guys to do what we practice? Can we trust guys to understand our game plan? Can we trust them coming out of a timeout? Can we execute those situations? Can we, again, start developing some level of consistency? And hopefully, we’ve improved from a week ago. We made a lot of mistakes in the Ohio State scrimmage that we worked on and corrected, and things that we shouldn’t have made. But we’ll see if we’ve improved from that game in terms of communication and just doing a better job with some details.”

Ja’Kobi Gillespie's Contributions

Barnes praised Ja’Kobi Gillespie, saying, “Ja’Kobi is a terrific player, obviously. Going to Belmont, where he was extremely well coached, Maryland really well coached, going in from Belmont there to becoming an All-Big Ten player, I think speaks volumes about him personally to his commitment, his work ethic. Since being here, he has given us more than we probably would expect. I mean, terrific teammate. Got to get more boisterous on the court, talking, and we keep talking about that with him. But he, Felix (Okpara), certainly has probably put in more reps than anybody from the time that we started. But he’s versatile and each day he keeps showing us a little bit more things that he can do that we have to continue to implement in what we’re trying to get done.”