Tony Barbee Out as Head Coach.

[Altima 200]

It was coming... but, Jay should've waited until tomorrow. Barbee should've been able to get his team back to campus, and meet with Jay innhis office. They're ripping us on ESPN, and personally, I agree. Letting Barbee go, that's fine... but do it the right way, with class.

When is ESPN not ripping AU. Who cares what they think anymore.

Don't get me wrong, I could give a damn what ESPN says, but this could've waited til in the morning.

Lane Kiffin was fired from SC, at the airport. Now, I can't stand Kiffin, but that was a classless move by SC... He should've been able ride home with his team.

See the JayGTate tweet I posted. The players were scattering after the game because of Spring Break.

That's fine... The team is still spending the night. They're not leaving for Spring Break from Atlanta.

[cptau 169]

It was coming... but, Jay should've waited until tomorrow. Barbee should've been able to get his team back to campus, and meet with Jay innhis office. They're ripping us on ESPN, and personally, I agree. Letting Barbee go, that's fine... but do it the right way, with class.

When is ESPN not ripping AU. Who cares what they think anymore.

Don't get me wrong, I could give a damn what ESPN says, but this could've waited til in the morning.

Lane Kiffin was fired from SC, at the airport. Now, I can't stand Kiffin, but that was a classless move by SC... He should've been able ride home with his team.

Great, so sabear can now hire barbee too. The team was in a tail spin. I really think JJ should have fired barbee a month ago. There may have been a contract reason not to do that.

[jared52 4,354]

It was coming... but, Jay should've waited until tomorrow. Barbee should've been able to get his team back to campus, and meet with Jay innhis office. They're ripping us on ESPN, and personally, I agree. Letting Barbee go, that's fine... but do it the right way, with class.

When is ESPN not ripping AU. Who cares what they think anymore.

Don't get me wrong, I could give a damn what ESPN says, but this could've waited til in the morning.

Lane Kiffin was fired from SC, at the airport. Now, I can't stand Kiffin, but that was a classless move by SC... He should've been able ride home with his team.

See the JayGTate tweet I posted. The players were scattering after the game because of Spring Break.

That's fine... The team is still spending the night. They're not leaving for Spring Break from Atlanta.

I think the tweet and article seem to indicate they were.

[WarDamnEagle#1 0]

Jeff Goodman @GoodmanESPN

Names I have been told are at or near top of Auburn list: Bruce Pearl, La Tech's Mike White, Duke asst Jeff Capel, S Miss Donnie Tyndall.

[jared52 4,354]

Barbee is trending on Twitter right now, so at least he's got that going for him.

[TitanTiger 20,463]

@AllenPayne2_: I can say this now... We'll struggle as long as we are under Under Armour.

[Weegle777 78]

Why is it that the Under Armour deal makes that big of a deal?

[jared52 4,354]

Why is it that the Under Armour deal makes that big of a deal?

I think it's been explained here and other places that Nike sponsors all the good AAU teams and if one of those players ended up at an Under Armor school, Nike would pull their sponsorship.

[WarEagle10 77]

Why is it that the Under Armour deal makes that big of a deal?

From what I have heard from many people, their shoes suck.

I wish coach Barbee the best and hope he can build a successful program somewhere else.

[jared52 4,354]

@AllenPayne2_: I can say this now... We'll struggle as long as we are under Under Armour.

Interesting that a player (former now) would say this. Do shoes and jerseys preclude a team from getting any better over the course of a season?

[WarDamnEagle#1 0]

@AllenPayne2_: I can say this now... We'll struggle as long as we are under Under Armour.

Interesting that a player (former now) would say this. Do shoes and jerseys preclude a team from getting any better over the course of a season?

Justin Hokanson @JHokanson

@NosaE94 Yea.Nike supports your AAU team, you're probably going to push your good player to a Nike school. UA isn't big enough in hoops yet.

[autigeremt 6,560]

@AllenPayne2_: I can say this now... We'll struggle as long as we are under Under Armour.

Interesting that a player (former now) would say this. Do shoes and jerseys preclude a team from getting any better over the course of a season?

It's not just the shoes in this case. It's the insider trading. AAU basketball has monopolized college basketball recruiting.

[Auburnguy101 325]

I am sorry, but I'm not buying any of these excuses about Auburn not being a Nike school is why we suck. I could go down to the student rec and get 5 players who would have similar talent. If you are a good coach, you actually COACH your players. The issue with Barbee was that he was emulating Calipari, but one thing he forgot was Auburn was not even close to Kentucky in terms of basketball prestige. Barbee had no system in place, he was like Chizik, everything was scattered and had no order. We need to hire a coach who has an actual winning philosophy, who doesn't rely on recruiting top tier guys to win.

[autigeremt 6,560]

I am sorry, but I'm not buying any of these excuses about Auburn not being a Nike school is why we suck. I could go down to the student rec and get 5 players who would have similar talent. If you are a good coach, you actually COACH your players. The issue with Barbee was that he was emulating Calipari, but one thing he forgot was Auburn was not even close to Kentucky in terms of basketball prestige. Barbee had no system in place, he was like Chizik, everything was scattered and had no order. We need to hire a coach who has an actual winning philosophy, who doesn't rely on recruiting top tier guys to win.

You don't have to buy it, but you can't believe for one second it doesn't have an impact when these Nike AAU supported coaches use their influence to steer kids to schools based on the swoosh.

[metafour 4,958]

The Under Armour deal hurts recruiting, but ultimately a coach who can develop a team of players that execute under a designed system WILL win. There is way more to college basketball success than just recruiting.

[AUpocalypse 12]

I don't think anyone is saying that this is the reason why AU bball sucks, it is just a pretty large hurdle. AAU aspects aside bc everyone has already gone on and on about them, the shoes themselves are an issue. Personally, I would not have wanted to wear UA when I played. A jersey or uniform is one thing, but this is equipment for your feet we are talking about. UA is sub-par. Many of these kids have massive shoe collections. Old Jordans, Lebrons, etc. All Nike. I think you'd be hard pressed to find an UA pair in the lot.

Again, I'm not saying that this is why we can't do this or that, but you're either unknowledgeable to the culture today or disregarding how important shoes are to these kids. Its icing for AU's problem cake.

[Auburnguy101 325]

Thank you Metafour. That is exactly what I'm saying. I'm not ignorant about the fact that the shoe thing is a factor in where these kids go, however, it is not the only way to be successful. I mean, Wichita State is sponsored by Jordan. They win though because their coach is an unbelievable X's and O's guy. Again, it takes more than just shoe deals to win basketball games, or else Kentucky would win every game and every championship in the last 5 years....

[AUpocalypse 12]

The Under Armour deal hurts recruiting, but ultimately a coach who can develop a team of players that execute under a designed system WILL win. There is way more to college basketball success than just recruiting.

:thumbsup:

[AubTiger14 0]

The Under Armour deal hurts recruiting, but ultimately a coach who can develop a team of players that execute under a designed system WILL win. There is way more to college basketball success than just recruiting.

I would argue recruiting is a very important aspect of basketball success. Go look at our classes for the past 5 years. Any 4-star player we signed either didn't make it on campus or didn't last more than a year. Our classes have been atrocious. I'm not trying to bash the guys on the team but the talent level just isn't there. Without Denson who was probably the only player Barbee developed or KT this team would have probably not won a single conference game.

Under Armour has no clout in Basketball. Why not do everything in our power to help our basketball program succeed? We just built a new 96 million dollar arena. The fan support would be there if we actually had something on the court worth watching. Why hinder ourselves by staying with Under Armour? Our Basketball program does not have to be under the same apparel deal as our other athletics. It doesn't make sense to me to stick with Under Armour when it plays a role in not getting the best players. The whole "get a coach who can win without recruiting" attitude is dumb. If you want to win it takes having good players as well as a good coach, that's just common sense.

[NoALtiger 3,849]

Well that didn't take long, I'm pretty impressed by JJ on this actually. Obvious call and he made it quick and decisively. Good for him...and us.

[cole256 17,038]

If you don't think shoe company matter then you don't know basketball period.

[InfernoOrangeSS 321]

Well that didn't take long, I'm pretty impressed by JJ on this actually. Obvious call and he made it quick and decisively. Good for him...and us.

+1

[Tigermike 3,006]

I wish Tony Barbee the best with the rest of his life. Now it's time for J Jacobs to hire a great coach for AUBURN.

[RunInRed 16,349]

PM has a pretty good article up this morning ...

http://www.auburntigers.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/031314aaa.html

[AU64 10,122]

That was quick....seems that JJ was just waiting for the end of the season.

I hope TB finds a good home....probably it was just me but I thought he was a better coach than his record at AU shows.....guess we will know in a few years.

Meanwhile, let the drumbeats for Bruce P begin......well actually that has been going on for a while.... but likely the intensity will increase.