Two old coaching friends meet again when Kentucky and Tennessee play Saturday night

Tennessee’s Rick Barnes and Kentucky’s John Calipari are old friends. That we know. They met working at Howard Garfinkel’s famous Five-Star coaching camps. Both were up-and-comers with bright futures. They bonded. The bond held.

Years later, as Barnes’ Volunteers play Calipari’s Wildcats on Saturday night at Rupp Arena, the two have something else in common.

They both want a return trip to the Final Four.

For Barnes, it’s been awhile. His one-and-only Final Four trip came in 2003 at Texas. The Longhorns lost to Carmelo Anthony and Syracuse 95-84 in the national semifinal before the Orange gave Jim Boeheim his one-and-only title with an 81-78 win over Roy Williams and Kansas in the championship game.

Calipari hasn’t taken Kentucky back to the Final Four since 2015. That was the final season of a remarkable run. From 2008 through ‘15, Calipari’s teams reached the ultimate weekend five times in eight years. Cal reached the final game three times, cutting down the nets in 2012.

So who has better the chance of getting there this year?

As a program, Tennessee has never made the Final Four. Not with the “Ernie and Bernie Show” of Ernie Grunfield and Bernard King. Not with Dale Ellis. Not with Allan Houston. Not with coaches Ray Mears or Don DeVoe or Bruce Pearl, whose 2009-10 Vols lost to Michigan State 70-69 in the finals of the Midwest Regional.

Meanwhile, Barnes has reached the Sweet 16 twice during his eight seasons in Knoxville. As a No. 2 seed in 2019, his Vols lost to Purdue 99-94 in overtime. As a No. 4 seed last season, his Vols lost to FAU 62-55 after beating Duke 65-52.

This year’s edition is ranked 5th in the latest AP Top 25. That was before Tennessee lost 63-59 at home to South Carolina on Tuesday night. The defeat dropped the Vols to 15-5 overall and 5-2 in the SEC. List of teams that have beaten Tennessee: Purdue, Kansas, North Carolina, Mississippi State and the Gamecocks.

Kentucky is also 15-5, but 5-3 in the SEC. The Cats are also coming off a home loss after falling 94-91 in overtime to Florida on Wednesday. List of teams that have beaten Kentucky: Kansas, UNC Wilmington, Texas A&M, South Carolina and Florida.

Barnes’ recent Tennessee teams played lock-down defense but lacked offensive firepower. This year, the Vols are No. 2 in adjusted defensive efficiency, and have a volume scorer in Dalton Knecht. The transfer from Northern Colorado is averaging 20.1 points per game, but has been sizzling of late. He’s scored 191 points over his last six games, an average of 31.8 per game. In four of the six, Knecht scored 31-or-more, including 39 in an 85-66 win over Florida. Pomeroy has Tennessee’s offense No. 31 in his rankings.

Meanwhile, Kentucky ranks 10th in adjusted offensive efficiency, but 74th in adjusted defensive efficiency. Only one team among the past 20 Final Four participants ranked higher than 49th in adjusted defensive efficiency. That was Miami last season at No. 99. And the Canes were bludgeoned by UConn in the national semifinal.

Saturday night will be the 20th meeting between the two friends since Barnes arrived at Tennessee. Barnes owns a 10-9 lead, but Kentucky won both meetings last season.

Calipari and Barnes and the Hall of Fame

Years later, Calipari is already in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield. Barnes could get there this year, his name having reached the finalists list for one of the sport’s highest honors.

“He is so deserving,” said Calipari in December when it was announced that Barnes was a finalist. “And I remember him when he had a ponytail and hair was down his back. He did. He drove around in a Volkswagen Beetle. And he had a toss back in the back seat that he would go camp to camp and that was his station, teaching that.

“We both stayed at Pitt in the training room because it was not an overnight camp but we had to be there, so we didn’t have money for a hotel. We stayed in the training room together, like on the tables. And (former UNLV coach) Tim Grgurich’s wife brought us lasagna and we put it on that thing that heats up the bag that kept it warm, we had left it.

“So, no, he and I go way back and we’ve been brothers for a long time. I love him. Well-deserved. You know, he’s good at what he does, cares about kids, faith-based what he does and how he handles himself. So I’m happy for him.”

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