Rick Barnes, the head men’s basketball coach at the University of Tennessee, announced on Tuesday the hiring of Steve McClain as an assistant coach.
McClain brings a wealth of experience with 43 years in college coaching, including 31 at the Division I level and 13 with Power Five programs. He has served as a head coach for 17 years, 14 of which were at Division I schools.
“Steve is a seasoned coach with extensive achievements over the past four decades. It was an easy decision to hire him here at Tennessee, and we’re excited to have him join us,” said Barnes. “His vast experience, coaching expertise, and dedication to his players will be invaluable. I’m confident that Steve will fully commit to Tennessee every day, and our program will thrive from his enthusiasm.”
Most recently, McClain spent the last three seasons at the University of Texas, with one year as a special assistant to the head coach and the following two as an assistant coach. Under his guidance, the Longhorns posted a 69-38 record and made the NCAA Tournament each year, reaching the Elite Eight in the 2022-23 season.
During that same 2022-23 season, McClain helped Texas win the Big 12 Tournament title and achieve a No. 5 ranking in the AP Poll, tying the program record. Texas secured 10 wins against AP top-25 teams, setting a program best, and finished 29-9 overall—marking the third-highest number of wins in the program’s history. He played a key role in mentoring Marcus Carr, who earned First Team All-Big 12 honors, and Sir’Jabari Rice, who was named Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year.
Before his time at Texas, McClain was at Georgia for two years (2020-22), where he coached SEC assists leader Sahvir Wheeler and future NBA draftee Toumani Camara in his first season.
“I want to express my gratitude to Coach Barnes for the opportunity to join this outstanding basketball program,” McClain said. “I’m thrilled to work under a Hall of Famer and to collaborate with the excellent staff already in place. Tennessee is one of the top athletic programs in the nation, and it’s truly an honor to become a Volunteer.”
McClain served as the head coach at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) for five seasons from 2015 to 2020. Starting with a program that only won five games in his first year, he led UIC to 16 or more wins for four consecutive seasons, a first for the program at the Division I level. His team reached the CBI semifinals in 2016-17 and finished as the CIT runner-up the following year, achieving 20 wins for the first time in 14 years.
Under McClain, UIC consistently finished in the top five of the Horizon League, achieving a third-place finish in 2017-18. He set several single-season records for the program in points, rebounds, assists, and blocks, and mentored multiple award-winning players.
From 2010 to 2015, McClain was part of the staff at Indiana, first as an assistant and then as associate head coach. There, he helped the Hoosiers achieve a 105-75 record and secure three NCAA Tournament appearances, including Sweet 16 trips in 2011-12 and 2012-13. During the 2012-13 season, Indiana won the Big Ten regular season title and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, boasting three consensus All-Americans.
In his earlier career, McClain worked at Colorado, transforming a struggling program into a competitive one, and was the head coach at Wyoming for nine seasons, where he led the Cowboys to two Mountain West regular season championships and multiple postseason appearances.
McClain’s coaching career began at TCU, where he played a key role in the turnaround of the program, leading to NCAA Tournament participation, and he also enjoyed a successful stint at Hutchinson Community College, where he won a national championship.
He began his coaching journey as a graduate assistant at Chadron State College, where he also earned his degree in health in 1984. McClain hails from Orient, Iowa.
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