Can AU become a Top 25 BB program?

[AUBourne 425]

What must AU do to become a Top 25 program in basketball? We are not going to change the culture of AAU or drop UnderArmor. So under that premise we need to work the tools we do have. Here are my thoughts. Maybe some are naive or dumb I don't know. Others thoughts and ideas are welcome.

1. Build relationships with high school and AAU coaches in Alabama and Georgia and develop pipelines. Help high school coaches build their programs. Alabama has no premier prep basketball programs that go out and challenge the nations best. Auburn coaches should help change that. We see the top state football programs drawing in better players and getting recruits better coaching and exposure. Basketball players would like to play on ESPNU and in national HS tourneys too.

2. Start winning the commits of top in state players. Right now the best players are going to Bama or leaving the state. UA has 7 players on it's team from Alabama. Lucky for us they are not really developing some of them offensively the way they should have. There is a lot of great recruits coming up in the next two classes and they could be the core foundation of our rise. Our football team is hiring a lot of coaches to assist with building relationships with HS programs. Basketball could use that help too.

Lamonte Turner

Justin Coleman

Isaac Haas

William Lee

Riley Norris

Demetrius Houston

Danjel Purifoy

Ethan Stair

Tommy Burton

Lewis Sullivan

3. Continue to take advantage of fertile recruiting grounds in Georgia.

4. AU needs to really look at the path St Mary's took in building relationships with foreign prep powers. They get the best players from Australia and it has really paid off for them. UCONN has at least two German kids that are great players. There are kids out there outside the influence of AAU.

5. Run a system that maximizes the strengths of AU players. AU is not going to out athlete the UK's and UF's. We need solid fundamentals and a team with high basketball IQ. Then when you do sprinkle in that one player with NBA potential you have a chance to make serious noise. Eventually the rich get richer and AU could build on that success.

6. Funding. The basketball program will pay for itself. AU should be willing to spend the same type of money on recruiting budget, coaches and other needs as any top 25 program does. That could be happening now but if so I can't tell.

[Mikey 16,684]

Barbee may well be the guy to do the things you suggest, other than the AAU bit. Our compliance department has declared anybody associated with Kamara's AAU teams a no-no and that wipes out all of North Alabama. Somebody higher up than the BB coach is going to have to un-do that restriction.

I think we're already spending the money, if published budgets are to be accepted as true.

About the foreign players, I'd rather start winning the in-state recruits. If we do that and continue to pick up a few from Georgia the talent level will take care of itself.

[AUGoo 2,664]

_{#5. When Coach Barbee was hired i remember discussing the same thoughts. Without a high caliber studd to break down the opponents D, the dribble drive O does not work- especially when there is no outside shooting consistenc y. I likie Lebo's motion O better than the dribble drive, and would love to have a Princeton style O at this point. Right now all we play is street ball most of the time.}

[AUGoo 2,664]

Barbee may well be the guy to do the things you suggest, other than the AAU bit. Our compliance department has declared anybody associated with Kamara's AAU teams a no-no and that wipes out all of North Alabama. Somebody higher up than the BB coach is going to have to un-do that restriction.

I think we're already spending the money, if published budgets are to be accepted as true.

About the foreign players, I'd rather start winning the in-state recruits. If we do that and continue to pick up a few from Georgia the talent level will take care of itself.

I don't see how we are ever going to get the local recruits without the AAU affiliation and the style game that keeps us on the bottom of the SEC. I think looking internationally is a great idea until we can acheive a noticeable level of success and catch the attention of some locals.

[AUBourne 425]

Barbee may well be the guy to do the things you suggest, other than the AAU bit. Our compliance department has declared anybody associated with Kamara's AAU teams a no-no and that wipes out all of North Alabama. Somebody higher up than the BB coach is going to have to un-do that restriction.

I think we're already spending the money, if published budgets are to be accepted as true.

About the foreign players, I'd rather start winning the in-state recruits. If we do that and continue to pick up a few from Georgia the talent level will take care of itself.

I don't want to turn this into a Kamara vs AU Compliance Department post because I hoped to focus on the things we can control. It is true that we can't recruit through Kamara but we can still recruit kids that play on his AAU team through their parents, HS coach and directly with the kids.

After the fiasco with Kamara's kid when he got the boot from AU it is possible (probable) he is now negative recruiting AU. Doubt if that will change as long as Barbee is at AU. No easy fix in this situation but the choices I see are make Kamara irrelevant, repair the relationship, or give up on recruiting a large part of Alabama and hope he doesn't influence other coaches/friends that are also involved with AAU.

[DANSBY 0]

We should set up a pipeline to Senegal.

[Altima 200]

_{#5. When Coach Barbee was hired i remember discussing the same thoughts. Without a high caliber studd to break down the opponents D, the dribble drive O does not work- especially when there is no outside shooting consistenc y. I likie Lebo's motion O better than the dribble drive, and would love to have a Princeton style O at this point. Right now all we play is street ball most of the time.}

I don't think we shoot well enough to run a Princeton style O... Need to recruit some consistency in that department.

[AUGoo 2,664]

_{#5. When Coach Barbee was hired i remember discussing the same thoughts. Without a high caliber studd to break down the opponents D, the dribble drive O does not work- especially when there is no outside shooting consistenc y. I likie Lebo's motion O better than the dribble drive, and would love to have a Princeton style O at this point. Right now all we play is street ball most of the time.}

I don't think we shoot well enough to run a Princeton style O... Need to recruit some consistency in that department.

I think that kind of talent is easier to find than what we are all looking for. Without shooters, no O is really going to work with average talent.

[Mikey 16,684]

Barbee may well be the guy to do the things you suggest, other than the AAU bit. Our compliance department has declared anybody associated with Kamara's AAU teams a no-no and that wipes out all of North Alabama. Somebody higher up than the BB coach is going to have to un-do that restriction.

I think we're already spending the money, if published budgets are to be accepted as true.

About the foreign players, I'd rather start winning the in-state recruits. If we do that and continue to pick up a few from Georgia the talent level will take care of itself.

I don't want to turn this into a Kamara vs AU Compliance Department post because I hoped to focus on the things we can control. It is true that we can't recruit through Kamara but we can still recruit kids that play on his AAU team through their parents, HS coach and directly with the kids.

After the fiasco with Kamara's kid when he got the boot from AU it is possible (probable) he is now negative recruiting AU. Doubt if that will change as long as Barbee is at AU. No easy fix in this situation but the choices I see are make Kamara irrelevant, repair the relationship, or give up on recruiting a large part of Alabama and hope he doesn't influence other coaches/friends that are also involved with AAU.

It was Lebo's brainless action to hire Kamara's kid to help with AU basketball film. I think he did that to spite the compliance department. We saw who won that one, the kid got ousted. 20,000 students at AU and Lebo hires that guy? Then lets him walk on to the team? Insanity.

The deal with Kamara is that the NCAA declared him to be a "representative of Auburn's athletic interests". Which is no big deal. However, our compliance dept. over-reacted and says we can't recruit any player that's on a Kamara team. The NCAA didn't say that, WE said that. Until the University President over rules compliance, we're stuck with that ruling.

[AUBourne 425]

It was Barbee that invited Mark Kamara's son to walk on and he actually went so far as to talk daddy Kamara into it. Mark Kamara is not happy that Barbee did not fight for Anthony or the way he was notified. They let him do the off season conditioning, take part in team photos etc and then first day of classes he was told he couldn't be part of the team. Even though Barbee had told Mark Kamara it was taken care of and cleared by the AU compliance ahead of time which turned out not to be true evidently. It was a mess and all of this serves to hurt our recruiting under Barbee in-state and among AAU folks friendly with Kamara.

Also, again, we can't recruit through Kamara like every other school does. But we can still recruit kids through their schools and parents. Does not matter if they are involved with MK and his AAU program or not.

Will be interesting to see how many of the kids from Alabama Barbee will be able to sign in the next class.

[AU64 10,122]

Just looking at the Rivals 150 and only 4 kids from Alabama and 6 from Georgia....and most in the bottom half of the list. And I bet that if you really look at their skills, watch a few videos, etc. , most are probably slashers who use their height to score inside...rather than posing an outside threat. I'm sick of watching SEC defenses turn their back on our guards and forwards, willing to let them take uncontested outside shots because the odds are so poor.

I don't know where the true shooters go to school...but that's what we need. Just an observation without much research, but seems that we play better in the running game than trying to play half-court. We are basically one-and-done in the half court game, don't have even one real three point threat and no body that can hit from the wing.

If you look at the ratings of the players we sign, we are getting pretty good kids, but IMO they just can't shoot well enough to play SEC ball. The kids with NBA potential are going to one top basketball schools and that's not us. Lots of coaches don't get kids from the top 150 and instead go after kids that will play their style of play unselfishly ....and can shoot the rock.

Guess what I suggest is that we need more selective recruting no matter where they go to HS. I could be wrong but seems difficult to bring a kid to college and then teach him how to shoot....otherwise the league would not be full of guys who can't shoot FTs or 3s.

[Mikey 16,684]

It was Barbee that invited Mark Kamara's son to walk on and he actually went so far as to talk daddy Kamara into it. Mark Kamara is not happy that Barbee did not fight for Anthony or the way he was notified. They let him do the off season conditioning, take part in team photos etc and then first day of classes he was told he couldn't be part of the team. Even though Barbee had told Mark Kamara it was taken care of and cleared by the AU compliance ahead of time which turned out not to be true evidently. It was a mess and all of this serves to hurt our recruiting under Barbee in-state and among AAU folks friendly with Kamara.

Also, again, we can't recruit through Kamara like every other school does. But we can still recruit kids through their schools and parents. Does not matter if they are involved with MK and his AAU program or not.

Will be interesting to see how many of the kids from Alabama Barbee will be able to sign in the next class.

Could have been. Lebo is the one that hired him to work for AU basketball, I clearly remember that.

Barbee isn't the first head coach to have similar trouble with AU compliance. Chizik was assured that Ja'Quay Williams and Darrion Henderson were qualifiers then after they were signed, compliance changed their tune. Still, we came through the entire Cam Newton/HBO investigation clean as a whistle, so I'm not going to down our compliance dept. too much.

[jwmboom7 0]

Haas and Coleman are absolute MUSTS for Barbee and AU. If we get them, then they could turn around our program in a hurry. Not to mention C and PG are our two weakest positions.

[keesler 5,928]

Simply out of shear ignorance on my part --- But why does Mark Kamara have so much influence on the state players? I understand he runs AAU teams, etc. Is that what he does for a living? Who pays him?

I know here in Montgomery, AAU basketball is orchestrated primarily through the YMCA and the fee's/dues are about equal to the standard Y ball fee's. Some parents/families can barely afford to pay the dues for their kid to play Y ball. I can't imagine them being able to afford paying much more than that for an AAU team. Just curious where the AAU coaches get compensated?

[AU64 10,122]

Simply out of shear ignorance on my part --- But why does Mark Kamara have so much influence on the state players? I understand he runs AAU teams, etc. Is that what he does for a living? Who pays him?

I know here in Montgomery, AAU basketball is orchestrated primarily through the YMCA and the fee's/dues are about equal to the standard Y ball fee's. Some parents/families can barely afford to pay the dues for their kid to play Y ball. I can't imagine them being able to afford paying much more than that for an AAU team. Just curious where the AAU coaches get compensated?

Yep, a lot of people wonder about that....including the NCAA. From pieces I read, the shoe companies are a factor and the camps...which are often sponsored (I mean who would believe it?) by the shoe companies.

JMO but blaming anything to do with AU's basketball woes on Kamara is the weakest possible excuse.

[AUBourne 425]

Simply out of shear ignorance on my part --- But why does Mark Kamara have so much influence on the state players? I understand he runs AAU teams, etc. Is that what he does for a living? Who pays him?

I know here in Montgomery, AAU basketball is orchestrated primarily through the YMCA and the fee's/dues are about equal to the standard Y ball fee's. Some parents/families can barely afford to pay the dues for their kid to play Y ball. I can't imagine them being able to afford paying much more than that for an AAU team. Just curious where the AAU coaches get compensated?

For some guys coaching AAU is their sole source of income. Camps, attendance fees for bringing in big names to a tourney, sponsorship and who knows what else. Corporate sponsorship is a huge part of it. Dan Wetzel has a book about the greed and corruption of it all.

Sole Influence: Basketball, Corporate Greed, and the Corruption of America's Youth

[milehighfan 1,240]

First off, AU always has been, always will be known as a football school. As for this years team it seemed they were waiting for something bad to happen and when it did they had no knowledge of how to stop it. Maybe see if Gene Hackman can come in and turn this thing around. Wouldn't hurt to have a couple of Jimmy Chitwoods around to cure the shooting woes.

[cooltigger21 0]

It was Barbee that invited Mark Kamara's son to walk on and he actually went so far as to talk daddy Kamara into it. Mark Kamara is not happy that Barbee did not fight for Anthony or the way he was notified. They let him do the off season conditioning, take part in team photos etc and then first day of classes he was told he couldn't be part of the team. Even though Barbee had told Mark Kamara it was taken care of and cleared by the AU compliance ahead of time which turned out not to be true evidently. It was a mess and all of this serves to hurt our recruiting under Barbee in-state and among AAU folks friendly with Kamara.

Also, again, we can't recruit through Kamara like every other school does. But we can still recruit kids through their schools and parents. Does not matter if they are involved with MK and his AAU program or not.

Will be interesting to see how many of the kids from Alabama Barbee will be able to sign in the next class.

Could have been. Lebo is the one that hired him to work for AU basketball, I clearly remember that.

Barbee isn't the first head coach to have similar trouble with AU compliance. Chizik was assured that Ja'Quay Williams and Darrion Henderson were qualifiers then after they were signed, compliance changed their tune. Still, we came through the entire Cam Newton/HBO investigation clean as a whistle, so I'm not going to down our compliance dept. too much.

The compliance dept. is always going to be very cautious and err on the safe side of things. If there is even a question I think they will say no. With the way the NCAA enforces the rules in such a haphazard manner, you really can't blame them on that one.

[AUcivE09 582]

It was Barbee that invited Mark Kamara's son to walk on and he actually went so far as to talk daddy Kamara into it. Mark Kamara is not happy that Barbee did not fight for Anthony or the way he was notified. They let him do the off season conditioning, take part in team photos etc and then first day of classes he was told he couldn't be part of the team. Even though Barbee had told Mark Kamara it was taken care of and cleared by the AU compliance ahead of time which turned out not to be true evidently. It was a mess and all of this serves to hurt our recruiting under Barbee in-state and among AAU folks friendly with Kamara.

Also, again, we can't recruit through Kamara like every other school does. But we can still recruit kids through their schools and parents. Does not matter if they are involved with MK and his AAU program or not.

Will be interesting to see how many of the kids from Alabama Barbee will be able to sign in the next class.

Could have been. Lebo is the one that hired him to work for AU basketball, I clearly remember that.

Barbee isn't the first head coach to have similar trouble with AU compliance. Chizik was assured that Ja'Quay Williams and Darrion Henderson were qualifiers then after they were signed, compliance changed their tune. Still, we came through the entire Cam Newton/HBO investigation clean as a whistle, so I'm not going to down our compliance dept. too much.

As long as we have baseless claims being thrown our way their job is pretty easy!

[Mikey 16,684]

It was Barbee that invited Mark Kamara's son to walk on and he actually went so far as to talk daddy Kamara into it. Mark Kamara is not happy that Barbee did not fight for Anthony or the way he was notified. They let him do the off season conditioning, take part in team photos etc and then first day of classes he was told he couldn't be part of the team. Even though Barbee had told Mark Kamara it was taken care of and cleared by the AU compliance ahead of time which turned out not to be true evidently. It was a mess and all of this serves to hurt our recruiting under Barbee in-state and among AAU folks friendly with Kamara.

Also, again, we can't recruit through Kamara like every other school does. But we can still recruit kids through their schools and parents. Does not matter if they are involved with MK and his AAU program or not.

Will be interesting to see how many of the kids from Alabama Barbee will be able to sign in the next class.

Could have been. Lebo is the one that hired him to work for AU basketball, I clearly remember that.

Barbee isn't the first head coach to have similar trouble with AU compliance. Chizik was assured that Ja'Quay Williams and Darrion Henderson were qualifiers then after they were signed, compliance changed their tune. Still, we came through the entire Cam Newton/HBO investigation clean as a whistle, so I'm not going to down our compliance dept. too much.

As long as we have baseless claims being thrown our way their job is pretty easy! ;)/>

When the NCAA has investigators going over everything with a fine-tooth comb for a year and they come up with nothing, one has to admit that Compliance has done a damn fine job.

Yes, the claims about Cam and also the BS from the HBO four were baseless claims, but while they were here the NCAA looked into everything and came up with zero. I don't think many schools could have done that.

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

We can become a top basketball school....but it will take YEARS and will have to be done one small step at a time. I just don't think the fans will have that kind of patience.

[norcuron 35]

Can we? Yes.

How? Drop under armour and go nike. Pay top $ for a top coach. The rest will just happen.

Iis Auburn willing to spend what it takes? No.

[Mikey 16,684]

Can we? Yes.

How? Drop under armour and go nike. Pay top $ for a top coach. The rest will just happen.

Iis Auburn willing to spend what it takes? No.

Auburn is already paying top $ for a coach. Auburn has paid top $ for a facility. The recruiting budget is virtually unlimited. The shoe thing is not a deal breaker with any recruit.

You may say that the wrong coach has been hired, but the idea that Auburn won't pay what's necessary to win at basketball is demonstrably false.

[AUfanaticAU 0]

Can we? Yes.

How? Drop under armour and go nike. Pay top $ for a top coach. The rest will just happen.

Iis Auburn willing to spend what it takes? No.

Auburn is already paying top $ for a coach. Auburn has paid top $ for a facility. The recruiting budget is virtually unlimited. The shoe thing is not a deal breaker with any recruit.

You may say that the wrong coach has been hired, but the idea that Auburn won't pay what's necessary to win at basketball is demonstrably false.

I agree with Mikey, its not nearly that simple.

My advice is be patient. We need to give a coach 5 years to build his own program. By year 6 if theres no sign of hope, then you get a new coach. Plus, no coach will want to come here if they dont have time to build a program (which I think Barbee is trying to do)

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

Does anyone give us any hope for next year possibly being a solid, successful, 20 win, post season clinching season? CD3, k.t. Harrel, price, shaq, Payne, ADT, any hope?