Tennessee has full hoop staff again with Gainey
Tennessee men’s basketball program has a full coaching staff again.
Volunteers head coach Rick Barnes announced Monday that Justin Gainey, a former North Carolina State point guard, would join fellow new addition Rod Clark, who was added last Monday. Clark and Gainey are replacing Kim English and Desmond Oliver, who left for head-coaching opportunities.
English is now heading George Mason’s program, with Oliver now at East Tennessee State.
“I coached against Justin when he was the point guard at N.C. State,” Barnes said in a release. “He was an incredibly tough competitor then, and he has that same tenacity now as a coach. Justin has a passion for on-court player development that fits well with our staff. Our players are going to love working with him to grow their game.
“He’s proven that he can recruit effectively nationwide, and we’re particularly excited about his ability to maintain our strong ties throughout the state of North Carolina.”
Gainey spent this past season as Marquette’s associate head coach under Steve Wojciechowski, and he was an Arizona assistant under Sean Miller during the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons. Both Wojciechowski and Miller were relieved of their duties at their respective locales earlier this month.
At the conclusion of his playing career at N.C. State, which transpired from 1996-2000, Gainey ranked second in program history in starts (103), fourth in steals (190), tied for fifth in games played (128) and ninth in assists (344).