As Tennessee basketball's offseason begins, new players and assistant coaches are arriving to campus.
Now in Knoxville, former Texas assistant Steve McClain met with the media for the first time on Wednesday.
Here's what he said.
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On his outside opinion on Tennessee while at Texas
When you talk about Tennessee, you start with toughness and winning. When you put those two things together, that's what this program has been. And not just winning, back-to-back Elite Eights. And at the top of the SEC, which as we all know a year ago, was the best conference in the country and the best it had ever been.
On his first impression of Tennessee's roster
Well, again, guys just getting in here and knowing the returning guys, knowing the recruits. It's a very talented roster. It's a roster that's built to play the way coach plays. In the world we're living in today, you replace and you get ready for another championship run. There is no, "Well, we'll wait for a year." No, you're losing great players, which there's no question we did, and yet you're plugging in and getting ready for guys that fit right into the culture.
On his prior relationship with Rick Barnes
Well, we go back quite a ways and from the time he was at Providence to when I was a junior college coach and we've known each other through the years and coached against each other. But, more of a relationship out of respect and knowing what he's done in his career and what I've been fortunate to be able to be a part of in my career.
On if working for Rodney Terry at Texas is similar to Rick Barnes
Well, I don't know. This will be my first time with Rick. But, you know what? I've heard a lot of stories. So I think I'm ready for it. But, yeah, there's no question. Coach had a great influence on Rodney and his name would be brought up a lot around the office in Texas. And then having competed against him at Texas and Tennessee, it seemed like we were always playing then. No, I think it gave me a great feel of what Coach does every day.
On his prior relationship with five-star freshman Nate Ament
I recruited him for two years and then didn't get him. When we knew this was gonna work out, he's an unbelievable young man and you start there with him. When I started recruiting him two years ago, that's what attracted you, was just a high-level kid from a high-level family and the people around him. I lost, but got the opportunity to come here and get a chance to coach (him).
On what Rick Barnes has built at UT drawing him here
If you're a basketball purist, you follow what people do. And when you look at Coach's track record everywhere he's been, it ends up in high-level winning. And then having, I don't know whether it was a privilege, but we came in here three years ago with a team that was highly ranked and went to the Elite Eight, and came in here and got our tails whipped by about 20 and I saw what the Vol Nation was all about. And so there was no question having seen all that, then when Coach called, yeah, I was all in to come be a part of it.
On what he brings to the table
You come into a new environment and you hope what you bring is just an energy, a familiarity to a degree of what Coach expects. And I think this in coaching, you always try to be a part of somewhere that the beliefs are a lot what you've grown up with. And, and knowing Coach Polinkski, knowing Coach Gainey, knowing the people that are involved in this program. We've got one of the best strength coaches in the country. I'd already heard about him before I ever walked in here. And you try to find a match that you know you can walk in and hopefully just continue to build on what the energy and the enthusiasm in the program, and yet understand it's not about you. I think that's the motto of this program: 'It's not about one individual.' And those are the best teams that I've ever been a part of, is when everybody just does their job. The end result is what happens on the court and, again, I feel fortunate to be here and be a part of that.
On Tennessee not losing a scholarship player to the portal
Well, it tells you all about Coach and the staff. You don't lose players because guys want to be here. It tells you about Vol Nation. It tells you about Danny White, the athletic director. You go up and down the University of Tennessee's athletic department, and from the day I've got here, you find nothing but people that want to help. "How can we make it easier for you?" And so, you go back to your question, why do kids not leave here? Because they've got everything they could ask for here. They, they've got an elite head coach who put together an elite staff and Justin Gainey, a guy that should be a head coach right now. You're talking about an environment where what's a kid gonna get better anywhere else? I think what Coach has proven over time is if you stay with him, you'll eventually get where you want to get. And some people can't prove that. That's why they lose players. Coach has proven he can do it.
On if he had prior relationships to players outside of Nate Ament
No, not really. I knew about Ja'Kobi, of course, being in the portal. Everybody knows about everybody. But no. I played against, of course, Vanderbilt, so I knew about him. And then the young kids, I'd seen a lot of them in the NBA Top 100 Camp a year ago. So you kind of have a feel for everybody.
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