It’s all but AU-fficial: Tony Barbee is your next Auburn men’s basketball coach.
As far as the quality of Auburn’s basketball program is concerned, this is terrific news. Barbee’s credentials are just about impeccable: a long apprenticeship under the most consistently successful coach in major college basketball, a reputation as a recruiter as strong or better than any second-tier coach in the country, three consecutive years of improvement at UTEP culminating in the at-large NCAA Tournament berth that’s eluded Auburn for the past seven years. Even aside from his resume, it’s (almost) nothing but good things: Barbee is a minority hire and a charismatic guy who won’t even turn 39 until this August.
All told, there wasn’t a hotter name in hoops coaching outside the power-conference ranks, and it seems just about impossible that providing a stud like Barbee with an arena like the Auburn Arena won’t result in a major, major upturn in the program’s fortunes. Many members of the Auburn punditocracy (yours truly included) have opined that Jay Jacobs needed to make the proverbial splash with this hire, to convince Auburn fans now that the Arena isn’t just a novelty act; it’s going to house some serious men’s basketball. Come for opening night, stay for the ascension of the SEC’s next hoops power. Barbee makes that sales job something other than hot air, and despite some misgivings, I can’t wait to see where Auburn ends up in two years.
Of course, the misgivings are there because where Auburn might end up is on probation. Barbee clearly deserves the benefit of the doubt for now–especially given Jacobs’ trust in him–but facts are facts: Barbee was on the bench under John Calipari at both UMass and Memphis, two schools who subsequently fell under the NCAA’s thumb as soon as Calipari exited the building. It’s more than a gamble for a program with a long history on the NCAA’s rap sheet to hire the highest-profile protege of the single biggest sleazebag in the sleazebaggiest NCAA business of them all. Barbee will have to be clean as an Ivy League whistle while he’s at Auburn, or even Jacobs’ apparent home run with the Chizik hire shouldn’t save him. If I’d been the guy in charge, I’d have wanted to to talk with Barbee and those familiar with him from his UMass and Memphis tenures, to try and find out exactly how much Barbee knew and when he knew it. There can’t be any place for cheaters any longer at Auburn, and it’s why I’d have rather pursued a guy with a longer, cleaner history of program building like Gregg Marshall or Billy Kennedy.
That Barbee rolled the dice on (and came up aces, admittedly) a known character risk like Louisville cast-off Derrick Caracter is another red flag. If Barbee’s plan for rebuilding Auburn is to take other program’s dirty laundry, no thanks.
But it’s only fair to assume that Jacobs did his due diligence, that Barbee is clean, that’s he’s going to go about things to right way–the Auburn way–and that he’s about to do what he’s been hired to do: make Auburn basketball relevant again. Short of hiring a Tubby Smith or a Mike Anderson–which was, clearly, never happening–no one looks more poised to do it in as short a period of time as Barbee.
Photo via.
Congrats on the hire….
Although as a rival fan, I am obligated to now call the new Auburn Arena Barbee’s Playhouse
TideDruid, thanks on the congrats for the hire. With one comment, I believe you may have won the contest in the comment sections a few months back on what we would call the new arena.
1k cocktails, to you, sir.
Hopefully this works out. I’m excited by what the future may hold for the Auburn Tigers basketball program. I just really hope that hiring someone from the Calipari tree has all the benefits of the great recruiting and coaching without the scandals that have been left behind.
Of course, I have to come back with a negative and say that a friend of mine who is a federal law enforcement officer in El Paso says that Barbee’s team out there lacks discipline and Barbee has no control over them. He told me he almost arrested a few of them at an airport in January. I hope that’s not reflective of what will happen at Auburn. I guess we’ll find out.
HELL YEAH!
I’m stoked about this hire. Auburn basketball will be fun to watch again!
Walt, that was NOT the sort of thing I wanted to hear. Oh well. Here’s to hoping Barbee felt a certain desperation in UTEP he won’t at Auburn if the character reports are true.
But I don’t have much doubt Auburn’s going to win again, and soon.
I’m sure you’ll have a good bit more to come about this guy, WBE, but I’m still trying to figure out what’s so great about him. It just seems like an awful lot of baggage to come with someone who couldn’t win the C-USA tournament, and got absolutely romped by a fellow dead-end NCAA tournament team in the first round.
And I’m trying to figure out exactly what he did to earn the $1.2 million raise he’s getting for coming here, but I’m coming up empty there too.
I’m trying not to be Mr. Negativity here, just because the guy I wanted didn’t get the job (because Lord knows I remember all the moaning from the Turner Gill crowd around this time a year ago), but, man, his hands better be perfectly clean. If they ain’t, then they better get washed, quick.
But regardless, I don’t know his X’s and O’s, and even if I did I wouldn’t be able to predict their translation into SEC play. So for now I guess I just have to assume that they’re good enough to make up for the heavy baggage.
(And the $1.5 mil we’re giving him. I mean, really, that’s three times more than Gus Malzahn. And as far as athletic department income goes, who’s more valuable? Even if Malzahn is only responsible for like 20% of the football team’s success.)
Maybe after I see a couple video interviews and pictures of Barbee in the proper shade of orange and blue, he’ll seem more like our Coach and less like a hired mercenary.
“Here’s to hoping Barbee felt a certain desperation in UTEP he won’t at Auburn if the character reports are true.”
This is Auburn basketball… If we’re not desperate at this point, then it’s only because we don’t care.
My first thought was that Jacobs took his time in the football search, but barely blinked before filling the basketball job. Has it even been two weeks? This feels like he took the first guy who would say yes.
My second reaction to this news was: “Calipari assistant. Great. How long before we are on probation?”
Call me skeptical.
I’ll have to agree with a lot of that, AO. Just have to put my faith in Jacobs now. His hires, so far, have been working out suprisingly well. The baseball seems to be showing some life (beat UA last night). That was his hire, also.
just about impeccable. He has certainly associated himself with a winner, but I’ld reserve impeccable for a Donavan, Pearl, Smith, someone who has been around the block. Barbee is a rising Star with alot of potential.
Just have to put faith in Jacobs. i do look forward to the new style of play, coaching style, etc.
I welcome some probation if it means Auburn can land some Rose/Wall level talent. I kid….sort of.