It’s been an underwhelming season for the Tennessee Lady Volunteers, with Tennessee at 16-10 on the season as the Vols near the end of SEC action. Former UCLA Bruin Janiah Barker didn’t make the trip for Tennessee’s 100-93 loss to Oklahoma on Sunday.
Tennessee head coach Kim Caldwell said that Barker didn’t travel with the team because Barker “did not meet program expectations.” For the season Barker has put up 14.4 points per game and a team-leading 6.8 rebounds, making her absence quite notable.
Barker has had a terrific season statistically, averaging over a block and steal per game while being Tennessee’s second-leading scorer but something went wrong between Caldwell and her 6’4” forward.
“She didn’t meet team standards, didn’t make the trip,” Caldwell said in her postgame press conference. “We’ll fix it when we get back, she’s got a bright future and she’ll be fine.”
In Barker’s last game, she put up a career-high 29 points in a loss to her first college team, the Texas A&M Aggies. Barker won the Big Ten’s Sixth Player of the Year last year with UCLA, where she put up 7.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per game for the winningest Bruin team in program history.
After transferring to Tennessee, Barker caught attention by dodging an attempt at a hug from UCLA head coach Cori Close. Afterwards Barker downplayed the incident but now she’s seeing more drama, this time with her current coach.
Barker is nearing the end of her collegiate career, where she’s been a part of three programs in her four seasons.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Former Bruin Janiah Barker didn’t travel with Tennessee last weekend
Reporting by Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
