college basketball news & notes

Tennessee: Just two days after leaving Texas, Rick Barnes has landed at Tennessee. Tennessee announced the hiring Tuesday, calling Barnes an “elite basketball coach in every respect.” The agreement is for six years at $2.25 million annually. The school scheduled an afternoon news conference. Barnes succeeds Donnie Tyndall, who was fired Friday after one season amid an NCAA investigation of his two years at Southern Mississippi. Barnes went 402-180 in 17 seasons at Texas and reached the NCAA Tournament in 16 of his 17 seasons, including a Final Four appearance in 2003. Texas announced his departure Sunday, saying it was a mutual decision. Barnes said at his farewell news conference he was given the choice of firing his staff or being fired himself. The 60-year-old Barnes is 604-314 in 28 seasons overall with stops at George Mason, Providence and Clemson. He has reached the NCAA Tournament in 19 of his last 20 seasons.

St. John’s: Chris Mullin is coming home to St. John’s. The Red Storm confirmed Tuesday that their career scoring leader and the player who led them to the 1985 Final Four is returning as coach. He’ll be introduced Wednesday at Carnesecca Arena.. “This is a role I have been preparing for all of my life,” Mullin said in a statement. “There are so many people who have had a great influence on me to reach this point, especially my parents, Coach (Lou) Carnesecca and my former teammates.”

Connecticut: Men’s basketball coach Kevin Ollie will not be traveling to the Final Four this week, abiding by a travel ban ordered by Connecticut’s governor because of Indiana’s new religious-objections law. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and other critics contend the law would allow businesses to deny service to gays and lesbians based on religious beliefs. The governor on Monday signed an executive order banning state spending on travel to Indiana. On Tuesday, UConn president Susan Herbst issued a statement saying Ollie and his staff had cancelled plans to attend coaches meetings and other events surrounding this weekend’s Final Four.

Associated Press