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NCAA Basketball: Top 20 Players to Play for 30-Year Head Coach Rick Barnes

By Tristan Freeman

MILWAUKEE, WI - MARCH 20: Head coach Rick Barnes of the Texas Longhorns reacts in the first half against the Arizona State Sun Devils during the second round of the 2014 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at BMO Harris Bradley Center on March 20, 2014 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Mike McGinnis/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WI - MARCH 20: Head coach Rick Barnes of the Texas Longhorns reacts in the first half against the Arizona State Sun Devils during the second round of the 2014 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at BMO Harris Bradley Center on March 20, 2014 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Mike McGinnis/Getty Images) /
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MILWAUKEE, WI – MARCH 20: Head coach Rick Barnes of the Texas Longhorns reacts in the first half against the Arizona State Sun Devils during the second round of the 2014 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at BMO Harris Bradley Center on March 20, 2014 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Mike McGinnis/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WI – MARCH 20: Head coach Rick Barnes of the Texas Longhorns reacts in the first half against the Arizona State Sun Devils during the second round of the 2014 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at BMO Harris Bradley Center on March 20, 2014 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Mike McGinnis/Getty Images) /

Rick Barnes has been coaching for now 30 full seasons. Here are 20 guys who helped him amass his big career win total.

One of the best coaching jobs this past season came from Rick Barnes, who led Tennessee to a share of the SEC regular-season title, and a three seed in the NCAA Tournament. His success wasn’t too big a surprise, considering what he had done at his previous stop at Texas.

Barnes spent 17 years with the Longhorns, making the NCAA Tournament all but one time while getting to the Final Four in 2003. He was ultimately done in by the same success he created, unable to keep up the “Sweet Sixteen or bust” narrative towards the end.

But Barnes wasn’t just good in Austin. He also made the Big Dance at his two previous stops with both Clemson and Providence. That doesn’t even include his 20 win season with George Mason in his very first full year as a head coach in 1988.

In total, Barnes has 661 career wins, out of 1,019 games played. 22 times he was truly apart of March Madness and has had success at all five coaching stops in one way or another.

From my earlier piece on the top-25 active head coaches, I had Barnes ranked No. 18, due to his whole body of work. What I’m going to do now in this article and identify and rank the 20 best players to play for Barnes. You’d be surprised at the players that he’s coached over his 30-year career.

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