Bryan Lentz (right), a Catawba County native who previously worked on the coaching staff of Rick Barnes at Texas, is leaving Appalachian State after four seasons to work for Barnes at Tennessee./UT PHOTO
HobbsDailyReport.com
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Catawba County native Bryan Lentz is going back to work for Rick Barnes, another county native, in college basketball.
Barnes announced Tuesday he’s adding Lentz in a Video Coordinator/Director of Player Development role at Tennessee. Lentz has been an assistant coach at Appalachian State for the last four seasons.
Lentz — who played college basketball at Lenoir-Rhyne University and prep basketball at Fred T. Foard and Newton-Conover — previously worked on Barnes’ staff at Texas.
BARNES
Barnes and Bryan Lentz’s dad, retired LRU head men’s basketball coach John Lentz, were roommates while playing basketball at LRU.
A position on Barnes’ coaching staff opened when Riley Davis accepted an assistant coaching position at Texas-Arlington in April.
“I’ve known Bryan for a long time,” Barnes said in a story on Tennessee’s athletic website. “He was with us at Texas, and he did an outstanding job. Then he took an opportunity at Appalachian State and was great there as well. When this position opened up, I immediately knew Bryan could be an ideal fit.”
Bryan Lentz spent four seasons at Texas as a special assistant to Barnes and was involved in all aspects of internal operations within the Longhorns program. During his time at Texas, the Longhorns went 87-48 and made three NCAA Tournament appearances (2011, 2012, 2014).
Bryan Lentz began his coaching career working for nine years coaching alongside his father. They won five South Atlantic Conference (SAC_ regular-season titles, one SAC Tournament title and made five NCAA Division II Tournament appearances. In his final two seasons at LRU, Bryan Lentz was the Bears’ associate head coach.
A four-year letter-winner at LRU, Bryan Lentz finished his playing career with 1,374 points and ranked fifth in school history in assists (388), steals (159) and free-throw percentage (.824). He was named SAC Freshman of the Year in 1996-97 and earned second-team All-SAC honors as a sophomore in 1997-98.
Lentz earned his bachelor’s degree in sports management from LRU in 2000.