Article About Michael Jordan Helps Leaders To Emerge At Tennessee

Tampa - There weren't a lot of people who thought Tennessee would win the SEC Tournament this year. But inside the locker room, their mental toughness never wavered.

I've talked lot about how this team went on to find success after a humbling loss to Kentucky earlier this season. What folks probably don't know is how their focus actually started after the loss to Oregon State in the NCAA Tournament last season.

At the time, Rick Barnes remembered an article he had read about the leadership of Michael Jordan. The article discussed how Jordan had to stop worrying about the outside noise and start worrying about being a leader. He had to step up and do what he needed to do to find success.

Tennessee was in a similar spot after the Beavers bounced them from the Tournament last March. After the Vols returned to Knoxville, Rick Barnes posted the article on the wall. He knew he had to get more out of Santiago Vescovi and Josiah-Jordan James if they were going to be successful.