Rick Barnes jokingly wonders if Tennessee players…
Rick Barnes regretted the remark the second it got here out of his mouth.
Frustrated after Tennessee had dedicated 15 turnovers in a 77-69 win over Auburn on Saturday, Barnes made a joke in his postgame media availability that he wished he hadn’t said.
“I mean at the end of the game, some of the passes that we throw, I don’t know what to say other than sometimes I wonder if my guys are betting on games,” Barnes told reporters, who laughed at the comment.
This was an all-timer by Rick Barnes 😂I requested him about the workforce’s heightened focus and it ends with him speaking about sure questionable unhealthy passes. “Sometimes I wonder if my guys are betting on games.” pic.twitter.com/1Q5Au3008b— Paige Dauer (@PaigeDauerFDP) February 1, 2026
However, just as rapidly as the quip got here out, Barnes needed it back, as he had his hand on his face.
“I shouldn’t say that. Erase that,” Barnes continued. “I just marvel what’s taking place. I imply, I do know that we’re too good of players to do that. Was that unhealthy? Should I not have said that? I apologize. I shouldn’t have said that. But the fact is, we’ve obtained to get smarter. We do. We obtained to get smarter. We have to. They understand it.
Rick Barnes is pictured during Tennessee’s Jan. 31 recreation. AP
“We’ve got a good group of guys, and I know they don’t want to do it, but sometimes we play so hard on defense, and we’re playing at a really hard frantic pace and we’re not able to gear it down like we need to on offense because it’s got to be played a different pace, and we’re still a little too frantic on the offensive end.”
It was clear the remark was made in jest, but contemplating the current climate around faculty athletes and betting, Barnes seemingly didn’t need to take the risk that somebody would possibly mistake the remark in any other fashion.
Recently, 20 males have been charged in a faculty basketball point-shaving scandal that concerned more than 30 players concerned in the scheme — where they tried to earn money by fixing the outcomes of video games.
All 5 of Tennessee’s starters dedicated at least one turnover in the sport, and Barnes was possible not thrilled with the turnovers with under 2:30 to play in the sport that led to Auburn cutting into the Volunteers’ lead.
Tennessee did maintain on for the win and moved to 15-6 on the season.
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