Tennessee Volunteers men’s basketball coach Rick Barnes didn’t mince words when he revealed why he sat the team’s leading scorer, Chaz Lanier, in Saturday’s win over the Texas Longhorns.
Lanier had 10 points in 34 minutes as No. 1 Tennessee won 74-70 over the Longhorns. He’s averaging 19 points per game. Barnes said he removed Lanier after he didn’t shoot the ball on a play designed for him.
“I took him out the first play of the second half because he didn’t shoot the ball,” he said, via CBS Sports. “That play is designed for that shot. I told him, ‘If you’re not going to do what you’re getting paid to do, then you’re going to sit over here.’ Because he is getting paid to do that.”
Barnes’ “paid to do” remark raised eyebrows in the name, image and likeness era. No head coach had been as blunt as Barnes was after the win.
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Lanier has a $1.7 million NIL valuation, according to On3 Sports.
“I’ve told Chaz all along, he doesn’t have to score the ball for us to win,” Barnes added. “He’s going to have to help those guys by learning how to screen, gonna have to learn to cut harder, learn to do his work early coming off screens, because he kind of gallops a little bit.”
Tennessee is 15–1 on the year and 2-1 against SEC opponents.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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