KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- When Rick Barnes coached No. 21 Tennessee to its 85-71 victory over Texas Tuesday night, it was a milestone for him.
It was Barnes’ 1,274th game as a head coach. He passed Bob Knight for No. 10 on the all-time list.
Afterward, it brought back memories that sent the coach reminiscing.
“To me, (Knight) was one of the greatest coaches,” said Barnes, in his 39th year. “When coach Knight became the all-time winningest coach, he and I became really good buddies. I sent him a shotgun. He was really good friends with (baseball legend) Ted Williams. He used to tell me stories about him, Ted Williams and (television broadcaster) Curt Gowdy going hunting.
“I remember reading that Ted Williams said he’d walk down the street and people would say he was the best hitter ever. When he became the all-time winningest coach, I sent (Knight) a rifle and on the butt of it, I put ‘Best Coach Ever.’”
Barnes went on to explain about Knight’s habit of making an index card — putting to paper objectives for each game. When Barnes was at Texas and Knight was at Texas Tech, Knight took Barnes in front of the Tech fans pre-game and presented him with a framed card from that game.
“I don’t keep a lot of things, but that’s one thing I’ve kept because of the respect I have for him,” Barnes said.