LEXINGTON, Ky. — Rick Barnes has long admired legendary college basketball coach John Wooden. To the point that he nearly left Tennessee for UCLA after four seasons on Rocky Top.

Barnes’ great fondness of Wooden started when he was the head coach at George Mason in 1980. One of his players, Bill Johnson, was good family friends with Wooden’s. They would go on vacation together, and Barnes would come visit every now and then in order to spend time with Wooden. It helped that Barnes’ son was living in California.

“I was blessed,” Barnes told the media Friday as his Tennessee basketball program prepares to play UCLA with a trip to the Sweet Sixteen on the line.

“I’d met him obviously a few times through the John Wooden Award with T.J. Ford and Kevin Durant,” Barnes continued. “We had a chance to go to Coach’s home and spend time in his home with him and talk basketball. Also a number of times I would go to dinner with him.

“That was a wonderful experience for me, to get to talk to him, and he was in his 90s. And just hearing so many wonderful stories about his coaching career. So when UCLA called, it was certainly an honor because obviously of the respect growing up. I remember staying up late at night in the ’60s when Dick Enberg would come on at 11:30 on east coast time — they might play once a year — watching those games and the great run he put together.”

UCLA contacted Barnes shortly after he guided Tennessee to the Sweet Sixteen at the end of the 2018-19 season. Barnes was on the verge of signing on the dotted line until a late snag regarding his $5 million buyout at Tennessee led the Bruins to go in a different direction.

“I remember a lot of prayer,” Barnes said. “When I got the call, obviously for a lot of reasons I listened and we met, and we talked about the possibility of that.

“I felt really blessed to have had the opportunity to come to Tennessee, and I will forever be thankful to Randy Boyd and when we were in that part of the negotiation, the commitment that he made. I look at it now and I thank God that he gave me the guidance to be where I am.”

UCLA pivoted to Mick Cronin at Cincinnati after talks with Barnes subsided. Cronin has since guided the Bruins to four NCAA Tournaments during his six seasons in Westwood.

Now the two veteran coaches find themselves on the verge of squaring off in the big dance. No. 2-seed Tennessee and No. 7 UCLA will tip off from Rupp Arena in the Round of 32 at 9:40 p.m. ET on Saturday night. A win would send Tennessee to its third straight Sweet Sixteen under Barnes and the fourth overall.

“UCLA hired a great, great basketball coach,” Barnes said. “Thankful and blessed that I’ve got the opportunity that I have at Tennessee. And I’m glad it’s worked out for UCLA, too, because the people I met with were wonderful people and, again, I don’t think there is any question they made the right hire.”