UT students were treated to first-class service from basketball coach Rick Barnes on Wednesday as the first year headman took to campus with an orange-clad Polaris ATV to give a few lucky students a lift to their morning classes.
Barnes announced his foray into public transportation on his @RickBarnesUT Twitter account before setting out to track potential patrons seeking a motorized shortcut between episodes of academia. In all, nearly a dozen students enjoyed a trip in the Barnes-mobile on Wednesday, accepting transportation in return for assurances that they would make their presence felt at Friday’s season-opener against UNC Asheville.
As the morning rolled on, reports of Barnes-sightings became more prevalent on Twitter, prompting some students to take a more proactive approach to securing not only a timely arrival to class, but the opportunity to ride shotgun alongside the new face of Vol Hoops.