The three-hour drive from Hickory, North Carolina to Knoxville back in 1974 now has a little extra meaning to Rick Barnes.

Before being introduced as Tennessee’s new head basketball coach Tuesday, that trip served up memories of he and his wife, Candy, spending time together as college students before they were married.

Now, it also provides the background for his admiration for Tennessee.

“I’m honored to have the chance to stand here today as the 20th head basketball coach at the University of Tennessee,” said Barnes during his introductory press conference on Tuesday. “But I will say this, I don’t know if any of those coaches that have come before me knew the University of Tennessee like I knew it before I ever really walked back on this campus.”

So when Barnes was fired from Texas on Sunday and the UT job remained vacant, the decision became clear.

“It was unanimous,” said Candy Barnes, who graduated from Tennessee in 1975 with a degree in biology. “We still have a lot of relatives in the area, and I know that Rick has a lot more to give to this sport.”

The decision, however, was one that could have happened 26 years ago when Barnes’ phone rang in the middle of the night while he was attending the 1989 Final Four in Seattle.

“(Then-UT athletic director) Doug Dickey called and wanted to talk to me about our job,” Barnes said. “I was like ‘You’re kidding me, who is this?’ About an hour later, I did sit down with him and we talked, but at that point in time I had just left George Mason for Providence.”

His denial may have been the first and only opportunity to coach at Tennessee, but a relationship he built two years earlier paved the way for Tuesday’s hiring.

In 1987, Barnes, who was then an assistant coach at Ohio State, was looking to land his first head coaching gig and received an interview for the vacancy at East Carolina, where Dave Hart — Tennessee’s current athletic director — was serving as the associate athletic director.

Barnes was beat out for the job by Mike Steele, but ultimately got his first head coaching opportunity at George Mason because of the interview.

As Barnes was being shown the door at Texas, Hart internally declared him the target of UT’s head coaching search, which began Friday after Donnie Tyndall was fired because of the possibility of him being hit with Level I and Level II NCAA violations.

His relationship with Hart helped Barnes shed his burnt orange tie for one with a brighter orange hue, but other factors merited a heavier weight.

Ultimately, it was those three-hour drives down I-40 and a few lasting memories that made him say yes.

“In some ways,” Barnes said, “I feel like I’m coming home.”