Tennessee's Barnes says buyout likely kept him from taking UCLA job

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Tennessee coach Rick Barnes believes he'd be coaching UCLA's men's basketball team right now if buyout negotiations hadn't broken down.

Barnes' contract required Tennessee to receive $5 million if he had left for another job before Monday. The buyout is slightly less now. Barnes spoke with UCLA officials, but a deal could not be worked out. Tennessee announced on April 8 that Barnes was stay ing in Knoxville.

UCLA hired Mick Cronin from Cincinnati on April 9 to replace Steve Alford, who was fired Dec. 31. Murry Bartow had served as UCLA's interim head coach the remainder of the 2018-19 season.

Barnes said at a Tuesday news conference that ''when you get down to a situation like that, it has to make sense from a financial standpoint.'' He added that ''the bottom line is we just couldn't work it out with the buyout.''

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