Rick Barnes has no idea why Cam Carr decided to leave the Tennessee basketball program abruptly in the middle of the season.
That’s because Carr didn’t present any opportunity for a discussion before he departed Monday.
“He just walked out,” the Vols coach said.
Carr is gone and Tennessee is moving on.
The No. 1 Vols (12-0) won 82-64 against Middle Tennessee State (9-4) hours after Carr opted out of being part of the top-ranked team in the country and left the team with a maximum of nine healthy scholarship players this season.
“From here on, there is nothing to really talk about,” Barnes said. “He made his decision. No reason. It’s baffling to be quite honest with you.”
Rick Barnes was not surprised Cam Carr left the Vols
Barnes believes his coaching staff knows the players on the team “like the back of our hand.” The players talk. The coaches talk.
So if you ask Barnes, he was not at all surprised that Carr is gone.
“It didn’t surprise me,” Barnes said. “I actually made that comment to the coaches. That is all I can tell you.”
Carr’s next step will be to enter the transfer portal. The timing for the sophomore guard entering the portal has its complications as the portal window for basketball does not open until late March. Barnes wasn’t sure if Carr or those around Carr understood the rules or not.
He was sure of what Tennessee thought.
“We were obviously counting on him being part of the team,” Barnes said. “Surprised his teammates. They were very disappointed.”
Carr could pursue a medical redshirt because he has not played since Nov. 17 with a left thumb injury. The 6-foot-6 Carr played in four games before the injury, averaging 4.8 points in 10.5 minutes per game this season.
Cam Carr’s teammates ‘wish him the best’ in leaving Tennessee
Carr told his teammates he loved them Monday but he felt that leaving was “the best opportunity for him,” guard Chaz Lanier said.
Lanier and guard Zakai Zeigler wished Carr the best as he exited the team, leaving an already shorthanded team even more so.
“His decision is his decision at the end of the day,” Zeigler said. “He is his own person. We can’t wish him nothing but the best. It was — I wouldn’t say unexpected or (I) expected it or anything like that. But just wishing him the best.”
Tennessee is without forward J.P. Estrella after he underwent season-ending foot surgery in November. UT didn’t have freshman guard Bishop Boswell against MTSU, leaving the Vols with eight available scholarship players with Carr vacating the roster.
Carr averaged 2.3 points in 18 games in his two seasons at UT. He made a key 3-pointer in Tennessee’s Sweet 16 win against Creighton last season, filling in while Santiago Vescovi was ill.
The Vols lost four players to the transfer portal following that season.
Barnes recalled Monday what Zeigler and guard Jahmai Mashack said about those departures.
“They said plain and clear, ‘If they don’t want to be here then we don’t want them here.We want guys that want to be here and guys that really care about being part of the team,’ ” Barnes said. “They said that and I think that’s how we all felt.”
Those comments mattered again after the Carr dipped out on the Vols.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on X @ByMikeWilson or Bluesky @bymikewilson.bsky.social. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
