Rick Barnes on Jonas Aidoo: 'I don't want to sound crass about it, but you move on'
Rick Barnes didn’t waste any time after Jonas Aidoo entered the NCAA Transfer Portal. The Tennessee basketball coach couldn’t, not with a handful of roster spots to fill after a wave of players left the program.
“Honestly, I don’t want to sound crass about it, but you move on,” Barnes said Wednesday night at the Big Orange Caravan stop in Chattanooga, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel.
“When you lose somebody, your mindset has to be, ‘Well, maybe we can improve somewhere.’”
Aidoo, who committed to and signed with Arkansas on Monday, was one of seven departures from last season’s roster, including four players that entered the Transfer Portal.
Seven spots changing on Tennessee basketball’s roster next season
Tennessee lost three fifth-year seniors in Dalton Knecht, Josiah-Jordan James and Santiago Vescovi. Redshirt freshman guard Freddie Dilione transferred to Penn State, redshirt freshman wing DJ Jefferson left for Longwood and sophomore power forward Tobe Awaka, who entered the portal one day before Aidoo, landed at Arizona.
Barnes wasn’t shaken by the departures, according to what he said Wednesday.
“We believe in the University of Tennessee,” Barnes said. “We know this: There’s a lot of people who want to play for us.”
Barnes and his staff so far have added three transfers: Hofstra wing Darlinstone Dubar, 6-foot-11 Ohio State center Felix Okpara and 6-foot-10 Charlotte forward Igor Milicic Jr.
The Vols, who still have three open roster spots, are also heavily recruiting North Florida guard Chaz Lanier. Ben Hammond, a 2024 point guard prospect who was previously committed to Rhode Island, is another name to watch.
Jonas Aidoo had a breakout junior season at Tennessee
Aidoo had a breakout junior season at Tennessee, named Second Team All-SEC and to the league’s all defensive team. He averaged career highs in scoring and rebounding, averaging 11.4 points and 7.3 rebounds in 24.8 minutes per game. He shot 51.5% from the floor.
“We obviously have great love and respect for Jonas,” Barnes said during the media availability in Chattanooga. “We’ve watched him grow in our program. But again, he felt like he may want to play a different style, a different way.”
Aidoo was a four-star center and a top-40 prospect in the 2021 recruiting class, initially committing to Marquette before following former Marquette assistant coach Justin Gainey, now Tennessee’s associate head coach, to Knoxville.
Barnes it admitted “it hurts” when players leave the Tennessee program after spending multiple years with the Vols.
“Throughout my years in coaching, you have to be willing to adapt,” Barnes said. “But it hurts. It always does when you feel like you’ve really worked hard with a young person, and you get them to a point. But you also understand it. Believe me, we totally understand it.”
