NASHVILLE – Tennessee’s Rick Barnes and Vanderbilt’s Scotty Pippen, Jr., were named the Tennessee Sports Writers Association’s Men’s Basketball Coach and Player of the Year, respectively, in awards announced this week for the 2021-22 academic year by the organization.
Barnes led Tennessee to a 27-8 record in his seventh season with wins over four Top 10 opponents. His Volunteers ranked in the AP Top 25 all season and finished fifth in the final poll. Barnes guided the Volunteers to their fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance as well as the program’s first SEC Tournament championship in 43 years. For the second time during the Barnes era, Tennessee never lost back-to-back games during the season. The Vols finished second in the SEC standings with a 14-4 mark in league play. After guiding his team to the NCAA Tournament for the 26th time in his career, Barnes is set to enter the 2022-23 season with the sixth-most Division I wins among active head coaches (754).
Pippen led the Southeastern Conference, scoring 20.4 points per game with 198 made free throws for the season. He started all 36 games, helping Vanderbilt to a 19-17 record, winning two games in the SEC Tournament and a quarterfinal loss in the NIT. Pippen was the first to average 20 points a game in back-to-back seasons since LSU’s Ronnie Henderson in 1995 and 1996. Pippen scored 30 or more points five times and set a Vanderbilt single-season record with 736 points.
The coach and player awards will be handed out July 14 at the 2022 TSWA Hall of Fame ceremony.