HobbsDailyReport.com
HICKORY – Rick Barnes, a graduate of Hickory High and Lenoir-Rhyne University and head men’s basketball coach at Tennessee, will be the featured speaker at the induction ceremony for this year’s class of the Catawba County Sports Hall of Fame.
BARNES
The Hickory Metro Sports Commission (HMSC) announced Barnes’ appearance via a press release on Tuesday.
The induction banquet is May 14 at the Highland Recreation Center in Hickory.
Barnes was named the Southeastern Conference (SEC) men’s basketball coach of the season in 2017-18, when the Vols won a league title, and he is a finalist for the Werner Landder Naismith Coach of the Year award.
Tennessee went 26-9 in Barnes’ third year as head coach, including 13-5 in the conference and 13-2 at home. He has 661 NCAA Division I career wins while head coach at George Mason, Providence, Clemson, Texas and Tennessee.
Texas made 16 NCAA postseason appearances in Barnes’ 17 seasons there.
He began his coaching career as an assistant coach at North State Academy in Hickory in 1977-78 and his college coaching career started with an assistant’s position at Davidson (1979-80).