Barbee to Kentucky?

This is just a theory whispered into my ear by the proverbial office wag. It sounds good to me.

Coach Cal takes Kentucky job and hires UTEP Coach Tony Barbee as an assistant. They have a father-son-type relationship. Barbee played for Calipari at UMass and coached under him at Memphis.

Barbee can likely make as much or more money as a Kentucky assistant (recruiter) than as head coach at UTEP.

At Kentucky, Barbee will be on a higher level from which to jump back into head coaching down the road. Kentucky is THE college basketball job in the nation.

I don't put a lot of stock in talk that Memphis would hire Barbee as its head coach. Word has to be out by now that, in El Paso at least, there's some speculation that he's not nearly as good a bench coach as he is a recruiter of talent. Barbee has good talent here, but he hasn't been able to get his team into the NCAA Tournament.

Comments

[Drury]

I would agree with Joe's assessment. Better chance for Barbee to be a Kentucky assistant than for him to be head coach at Memphis.

[CLEOFITZWITZ]

Barbee would have looked a lot better (4-5 wins better) if Cooper had not been a bust and Britten had been in better playing shape. That's the 7 footer and the 6-11 guy who were supposed to be the major upgrade from Victor Rahmalho.

Instead we've had to rely on Jackson and Culpepper while waiting on Moultrie to develop.

Fans around here don't see what's in front of them. We are on the verge of the NCAA again but we could end up starting from scratch with a new coach in large part because fans have not taken to Barbee.

[Jon]

Not gonna happen, Yes Kentucky is the premier coaching job.....if your the head coach. Doesn't matter if he can make more money at Kentucky, its a demotion and Barbee really feels he has something going here anyway.

Nobody leaves a head coaching job for an assistant coaching job... well unless that is a move from the NCAA to the NBA...maybe...

[2myeye]

And I heard the Newspaper Tree is taking over the Times. They will keep the photographers, and trim the dead wood.
Joe, I'm sorry, you are really reaching into the sack this time.
Let things play out. Then make your terribly lame points after the season is over. You are nothing but a distraction to the team.

[Pick Ax]

Barbee to Kentucky as an assistant is a demotion. With the team he has coming back next year plus no bully in CUSA, he knows this is the best chance to shine and be noticed.

I see us making some noise next year with no Calipari in CUSA. I'm not sure if that is for the good of the conference...

[OLDSCHOOL]

Take him. Bring back Gilliespe!!!!We lose nothing and have the X's and O's and the tireless recuriter. We just can't have the Cops pull him over again, and his girlfriend lives here anyway.

[marcusg23]

does this father-son relationship land usat least an away game against uk?any takers

[lincoln]

I think Barbee to Kentucky makes sense to Barbee. The last thing he wants is to fail here at Utep and has to start over from scratch 2 years from now. He goes to Kentucky, does what he does (recruit) and excels. In 2 years instead of picking up the pieces he has Kentucky on his resume, he has coach Cal vouching for him and where he applies for a head coach position, it will show 20 wins at his last stop (Utep).
That is a far better scenerio for Barbee than trying to make it work at Utep.

[Jon]

OLDSCHOOL,

You are dilusional if you think Billy Gillespie would ever come back to UTEP. They guy wouldn't set foot in El Paso ever again unless he is bringing another team with him to play the Miners.

and lincoln, there is no evidence that barbee is failing at UTEP. Yes he hasn't had that magical one year turnaround that Gillespie had (and that many of you seem to think is the norm rather than the exception) but he has built a program from the ground up and his teams have improved every year he has been here. And with 10 of 12 players coming back and a strong recruiting class, all signs show that this team will be even better next year.

[Gibb]

Bring back Billy Clyde!!!

[Toasted Whitebred]

Barbee is no more an El Paso guy than Gillespie was a Kentucky guy. I support him but he is a bit of a fish out of water here.

Although Calipari has been working hard to get Barbee on at Memphis, it is unlikely to happen given the 2.3 million that Memphis has to attract a seasoned coach with a bonafide record.

Barbee could go to Kentucky but what does that do to his dream of becoming a successful coach? It would look like he is giving up on his players and his school. Too tough to win in El Paso. I'll try again later at an easier school. Not gonna wash.

Barbee has to prove himself here. Has to win here or head jobs will be tough to come by later.

[lincoln]

Jon,
Barbee is a recruiter no doubt !!! But for Barbee, or anyone for that matter, just like Cal there are bigger goals. It just makes sense to pad your resume at Kentucky if given the chance.

I would like to throw this question out there.... What is a better job now Chief Recruiter at Kentucky or Head Coach at Utep?

[jay]

Apples to Apples Kentucky.... building a program Utep.

[OLDSCHOOL]

Jon,

Barbee not failing? He lost two decent big men this year, and other strong players in the past. He has done well in CBI- third tier tournament, we all know Billy Clyde is not coming back, but get a sense of humor, and realize Barbee is not a good floor coach nor wants to stay in El Paso any longer than he has to. He should have had UTEP in the tournament or in the NIT this year, and didn't, with the talent on the floor this year, that is failure. This town is strong basketball minded town and how can you not see that he does not what needs to be incorporated to break a zone- (1-2-2 or 1-3-1) or change the pace of a game to his advantage. WE ARE NOT MEMPHIS, and he probably is not a student of the game which is what El Paso-mid major UTEP needs. They will get better, I agree, but so does his basketball knowledge. I do wish him luck. Thanks for your input.

[State]

If Coach Cal takes the Kentucky job, it will do wonders for C-USA.

Yes, the poster child for C-USA is gone but, this one bid league is DOMINATED by Memphis and unless another C-USA has a "special" season, it will be Memphis and ONLY, Memphis representing C-USA in late March!!

Be happy miner fans, if coach Calipari leaves, that means you have a shot at a tournament that begins with an "N" and not a "C."

[dv]

barbee won't go to kentucky, Joe. don't be silly. But he may go to Memphis.

and once again UTEP without a coach...

[jay]

KENTUCKY AS A CHIEF RECRUITER IS A BETTER CHANCE THAN MEMPHIS

[Miners1]

I don't think a lot of people understand exactly what Gillespie did at UTEP. His first year he wins only 6 games, then he goes out and gets Omar Thomas an Fili Rivera. His next year he has this great year, and as happy as I was that it happened, I also understood that it might not last after all they were junior college transfers. They were juniors at the time with two years of eligibility. What Barber has done is tried to build a program the right way, and that is with freshmen that will play for four years. I think that with another year or so our program can be built into something special. Barbee is a great recruiter and when he gets the time for his players to learn his style it will all play out. Give him a break and let him do his job!!!

[OLDSCHOOL]

Miners1,

Did you forget about the class Gillespie had coming in??? They decided not to come after he left, Ivan Almonte and Alex Galindo. Gillespie had us in a better direction than Ron Howard- look a like Doc did, and HE IS A MUCH BETTER COACH than the "Barbee girl" song that praises our current coach. Gillespie also walked into a very difficult situation after "Happy Dick" Rabadeux was asked to leave. He developed St. Amant, Tofi, Williams, Darius Mattuier, and others, Doc did not have the same respect that Billy Clyde did. Barbee can be a much better coach if he was not so Memphis minded, they do not focus on defense, and sometimes it is plain horrible, they also do not have an offensive plan, they don't pick, they don't have any set plays, and they have one or two people taking shots.... how many times does DJ have 4 people coming at him? Is anyone else open? There has to be but he has the green light, and that is a coaches fault, if we incoporated a Juylan Stone, Moultrie, or others, they could be a more diverse squad offensely. In order to break a zone- you need to move and pass, but he doesn't change the game plan, Maybe because he does not know how? I find that hard to believe since he is D1 college coach, and this is his profession. Maybe time will tell, but he is not going to be around long enough for us to see it in El Paso, first chance he gets he is gone. Nolan, where are you?

[Pick Ax]

Coach Tony Barbee has my full unconditional support...

[Maven]

I think Barbee has the UTEP program headed in the right direction. I don't think his record thus far warrants the Memphis job. That is not to say that in a year or two, it would not be the case. I say Barbee sticks here for another couple years.

While Barbee has a promising team coming back with good recruits on the way in, it would not surprise me if he took the top assistant job at Kentucky. The no. 2 man at a top 5 program with lots of visibility can open many doors. I don't see a move in that way as a step down for him if he takes advantage of the opportunity.

As far as the Memphis job...why not look at Reggie Theus? He's a heck of a recruiter as evidenced by who he got at NMSU. That includes Herb Pope, a legitimate 5 star recruit, and the first in the region that I can think of. He's also a decent Xs and Os guy. He'd fit in in Memphis just fine. (I also think that Arizona might be a spot for ol' Reggie.)

And here's an excerpt from an interesting article local to Memphis entitled "If Calipari goes, what's next?." ---

"....Beyond those three names, who should be at the top of Memphis' list if Calipari leaves, it would be worthwhile to at least consider former assistants Tony Barbee and Derek Kellogg, who are now head coaches at UTEP and UMass, respectively. Calipari, according to sources, went into a meeting with Memphis officials and lobbied for Barbee to get the job if he left. Barbee, however, has not made the NCAA Tournament in his three seasons at UTEP and could be on the hot seat himself unless the Miners take a step forward next season. If Memphis is looking within the conference, it would make more sense to go after the second-best coach in the league, which right now is Doug Wojcik at Tulsa, a rising young coach who nearly got the Stanford job last year and studied under Tom Izzo at Michigan State.

Another name that could surface is Reggie Theus, formerly of New Mexico State, who is looking to get back into the college ranks after trying the NBA. If the Tigers are interested in a high-major coach who plays an entertaining style, Clemson's Oliver Purnell would be worth a look..."

Just my thoughts on the topic at hand.

[Jon]

Oldschool

First of all, you can say that about anybody who coaches at UTEP, first chance they get they are gone. Your beloved Gillespie was exactly like that. Heck, he did it to Texas A&M as well. And there is no chance he ever comes back to El Paso.

But even if you and Lincoln don't agree with me about Barbee, and its obvious you don't, you have to think with your heads. The ramifications of firing this coach would be huge.

1st of all, your sending a message to every young up and coming coach that you as a Unviersity have unrealistic expectations. Make the NCAA tourny in 3 seasons or your fired. Your telling them you want to win at the same level as a Kentucky but without the same resources.

2nd, you destroy your recruiting base. You will lose half the players currently on the roster. Firing Barbee after a 20 win season and post season success (regardless of whether it came from a 3rd tier tourny) will cause anamousity between the players and the school and those players will transfer. Good bye Culpepper, Good bye Moultrie, Good Bye Stone, they won't stick around if you fire their coach.

On top of that no new recruits will want to come. UTEP is not Kentucky, people don't come here for the school, they come here for the coach and if they see that UTEP is firing their coach every 2 or 3 years they won't want come. The program will become unstable and no recruit will want to play here.

UTEP has already suffered being unstable after Haskins retired. We have had Rab, Gillespie, Sadler, all in a span of less than 7 years. For the first time UTEP is a stable program under Barbee and is building a recruiting base. You fire him, you destroy that and make UTEP unstable again.

On top of that you are setting up a scenario where UTEP keeps having a new coach every 2 or 3 years. Just because you fire Barbee doesn't mean the next guy will win. And you won't get one of those new hot young assistants at a big school because they will have seen what you did to Barbee and they will pass for a better, more reasonable opportunity elsewhere.

And what if the next coach isn't even as successful as Barbee was, well now you have to fire him.

And what if the guy after him doesn't make the tourny either after 3 years, well fire him too.

But FINALLY you find a coach that is able to turn it around after just 2 seasons and UTEP is back in the Tourny. Oh but he is gone, left to a bigger school, he isn't going to stick around at a program that has a trigger happy administration.

So your back to square one and before you know it, you program has fallen to the level of an SMU or Tulane. a doormate program that no player or coach wants to go to.

And no, Barbee is not going to Kentucky, that is something Joe made up, he even says so in his post. On top of that he is not one of the top candidates at Memphis.

So all you haters, deal with it, Barbee will be back next year.

[marcusg23]

good job jon, brought your a game tonite. hopefully thr miners and coach barbee bring theirs tomorrow.

[Derby]

A good thing about Coach Cal leaving, he'll be taking some of those tough Memphis players and those excellent recruits with him. And when that happens, Memphis won't be the top dog in the conference any longer. Tulsa, UTEP, Houston and the rest of CUSA will now have a shot at a conference crown. Look for the league to even out next year and for UTEP to be in the mix for a conference crown.

[Miners1]

OLDSCHOOL,

I remember that recruiting class but in case you forget, they were not recruited by Gillespie. They were recruited by Sergio Rocco. They also said that they would have stayed if Rocco was named the new Head Coach. I am not trying to take anything away from Gillespie, I think he is a great coach, and he will land somewhere and be successful. All I am trying to say is that his success came with Fili and O.T. I also believe that Tony Barbee will eventually come around. I think he needs to develop his own style. He is trying to do what Memphis does and that does not work for evrybody. When he establishes his own identity he will be successful. Everyone has to admit that this team has played better in the CBI than at most times this year. Yesterdays game for example, we were down by 21 in the second half. If that happened a year ago, we would have lost by 25 points. His players are young and are starting to develop into better players. As far as Calipari leaving I must admit I was not thrilled to hear that. Everyone seems to think that it is a good thing. Although it does mean that C-USA is going to be more even, I would have loved to keep Mephis a strong team and develop the rest of the teams closer to them instead of the other way around. I think that eventually that would have happened.