Great Article on Coach Barbee

[watsontiger98 9]

http://blog.al.com/solomon/2010/03/tony_barbee_introducing_calipa.html

[Tiger Growlin 0]

Yeah I read that this morning and the more I learn about this guy the more I like him. I believe we have a bright future.

[around4ever 4,139]

When was the last time or have you ever been wanting basketball season to start as much as you are right now?

[watsontiger98 9]

I personally don't remember a time when I have looked forward to BBall season. Hope he is able to hold on to all our recruits.

[DunderMifflin 60]

This one is better, IMO.  The guys at the B'ham News didn't even let him find his office before they started trying to raise questions about his recruiting and connections to Cal. 

By Mike Herndon

March 28, 2010, 7:05AM

Bruiser Flint remembers Tony Barbee as the guy who wouldn't pay attention.

"He never listened to his coaches," said Flint, an assistant on John Calipari's staff at UMass when Barbee played for the Minutemen from 1989-1993. "That's one of the funniest things:

When he became a coach he'd say, 'This kid just won't listen.' I had to laugh and say, 'You were the hard-headedest guy we ever coached.'"

Barbee must have been listening more than Flint realized. The 38-year-old Indianapolis native, who was introduced as Auburn's new head basketball coach on Thursday, used what he learned from Calipari to lead Texas-El Paso to 82 wins in four years -- the dribble-drive offense, the defensive intensity, the relentless recruiting.

And those who know him expect him to bring it to Auburn as well.

"Wherever he goes, he's going to have success," said Flint, who later employed Barbee as an assistant after succeeding Calipari as head coach at UMass. "I think the sky's the limit for him."

Flint, now the head coach at Drexel, said he knew early on that Barbee would become a successful coach. "He was just a tough player, great basketball mind," Flint said of Barbee, who scored 1,693 points and led the Minutemen to two NCAA tournaments and two NITs. "Although he was a small forward, you ran a lot of things through him. Very high basketball IQ. He just had that type of mind, you could tell."

After playing professionally in Spain and France, Barbee returned to UMass as a graduate assistant under Calipari, who is now the head coach at Kentucky, and a full member of Flint's staff. Except for one year at Wyoming, Barbee stayed with Flint until 2000, when he joined Calipari's staff at Memphis.

It was there that Barbee built his reputation as a recruiter, helping the Tigers land top-10 recruiting classes during each of his six years in Memphis. He was named the top assistant in the nation by Street & Smith, and the No. 3 recruiter in the nation by Rivals.com.

"He's going to get after it. He's going to get you some players," Flint said. "To be a good recruiter, you've got to be relentless. That's No. 1. Then I think Tony is real with his guys. He's not going to sell you a dream. He's going to let you know, 'I want you.' Guys like the relationship he builds with you when he's trying to recruit you."

That approach helped Barbee land blue-chip prospects from all over the country, including Detroit-area native Chris Douglas-Roberts. "He was real honest with me," said Douglas-Roberts, now a forward with the New Jersey Nets.

"He stayed in contact. He played college basketball, so he understands what it takes to recruit.

"He's definitely a player's coach, but he's intense," he added. "He's real passionate about winning."

Barbee built on his reputation at UTEP, stockpiling talent as the Miners improved their win total each year. UTEP's 2009-10 squad, which went 26-7 and earned an NCAA tournament berth, included five players Barbee brought in from the Memphis area, including Conference USA player of the year Randy Culpepper and 6-foot-11 NBA prospect Arnett Moultrie.

"He's been one of the easiest guys to recruit for that I've ever worked with," UTEP assistant Randall Dickey said. "We always felt like if we could get him in the home, he's going to be hard to beat."

On the court, Barbee brought Calipari's aggressive pressure defense and dribble-drive offense from Memphis, but showed the flexibility to mold the system to his personnel. "We did some things in our second year that we didn't do this year, and we did some things last year that we didn't do this year," Dickey said. "We have taken that dribble-drive and tweaked it to the strengths of the team."

Dickey, who was told Barbee would have more of an idea about plans for his Auburn staff after this week, said Barbee will go to the Plains with a blueprint for success and he'll stick to it.

"He's not a quick-fix guy. The success we've had here, it took three years to do this," Dickey said. "He's a complete leader from the foundation up. He'll lay the foundation first and foremost by recruiting SEC-type, athletic players, as well as character players. He'll not take a back seat to anybody in that league. He'll go right after it."

[CadillacCone 0]

I wish I would have known this guy was connected to Calipari before he was hired. I was wanting Sam Mitchell because he was well connected with some AAU guys. I had no idea that Barbee had the connections he does. I believe we'll finally see some big-time recruits come to AU for basketball

[Guest Autiger88]

When was the last time or have you ever been wanting basketball season to start as much as you are right now?

I can honestly say never.

[alexava 6,973]

    Re: Great Article on Coach Barbee

« Reply #3 on: Today at 09:48:51 AM » Quote 

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I personally don't remember a time when I have looked forward to BBall season. Hope he is able to hold on to all our recruits.

i read an article on al.com today that says different. out of 6 signees 2 can play, 2 cant, and 2 might not qualify, which would be good. there will be no seniors next year so no new recruits the following year. i think we will see some attrition.

[wrdmegle 0]

That tells you how bad the program was under Lebo.  I can't believe how much he was banking on that Hoop Scoop ranking.