Tennessee men's basketball coach says he benched top scorer for failing to do what he's 'getting paid to do'

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Tennessee Volunteers males’s basketball coach Rick Barnes didn’t mince phrases when he revealed why he sat the group’s main scorer, Chaz Lanier, in Saturday’s win over the Texas Longhorns.

Lanier had 10 factors in 34 minutes as No. 1 Tennessee received 74-70 over the Longhorns. He’s averaging 19 factors per sport. Barnes mentioned he eliminated Lanier after he didn’t shoot the ball on a play designed for him.

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Tennessee head basketball coach Rick Barnes talks to Tennessee guard Chaz Lanier throughout the Arkansas sport at Thompson-Boling Area at Meals Metropolis Middle in Knoxville on Jan. 4, 2025. (Angelina Alcantar/Information Sentinel/USA Right now Community through Imagn Pictures)

“I took him out the primary play of the second half as a result of he did not shoot the ball,” he mentioned, through CBS Sports. “That play is designed for that shot. I advised him, ‘In the event you’re not going to do what you are getting paid to do, then you are going to sit over right here.’ As a result of he’s getting paid to try this.”

Barnes’ “paid to do” comment raised eyebrows within the identify, picture and likeness period. No head coach had been as blunt as Barnes was after the win.

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Tennessee guard Chaz Lanier drives on Florida ahead Alex Condon on Jan. 7, 2025, in Gainesville. (AP Picture/Alan Youngblood)

Lanier has a $1.7 million NIL valuation, in keeping with On3 Sports.

“I’ve advised Chaz all alongside, he would not have to attain the ball for us to win,” Barnes added. “He will have to assist these guys by studying easy methods to display, gonna must be taught to chop tougher, be taught to do his work early coming off screens, as a result of he sort of gallops just a little bit.”