Is Barbee considered a good recruiter?

[brianpoe]

Not a fan of Auburn ex coach Tony Barbee. I think he is garbage compared to Antiqua. Cant be convinced otherwise.

Garbage?

Yet you have no idea, its just because...?

He hasn't been an assistant since he was named one of the top recruiters in college basketball prior to becoming a head coach (which is why he received those head coaching jobs).

But you can't be convinced otherwise? Even if we continue to to have top classes?

Let's let the guy actually recruit one year and see how he does.

 

[CUT-NETS]

I fully expect Cal to stick around another decade or so. He'll be 57 this winter, which is young by elite college coaching standards. K is still going strong at 68. Izzo will be 61. Pitino will be 63 in September. Roy turns 65 in a few weeks. Boeheim turns 71 in November. Calhoun was over 70 when he retired.


If Cal sticks it out until his mid to late sixties, I think UK's success rises to an even higher level (hard to imagine, but K being retired at that point will make Cal college basketball's elder statesman). He'll have the "old wise man" appeal that Calhoun had and that K currently has. Plus at that point, he'll presumably have around 30 guys actively playing in the NBA, and perhaps a few more Final Fours stashed away in his pocket.

I mean, people have to remember that trumping even Cal's passion for the game is his love for communicating. UK offers that platform unlike any other coaching job in the world. I think he knows that and loves it, and it is in part why UK has survived a second summer of LeBron's whimsical impulses and kept Cal around. Plus, it's clear he gains a sense of continuous, positive motivation with every new NBA green room filled with UK guys. He feels like he's changing the world on some level, and I think we see him at UK for the long haul as a result of all these factors.

Only problem with that is that he has already said that this is not a 10-15 year job. If he sticks around another decade thats 16 years. Cal will not be here another decade.

 

[ulismyman]

Just what dod Slice do???? Zero..left after one season..cant help ya

 

[Blue Decade]

Can he fill the void left by Antigua and Slice?

Antigua and Slice already had their opportunities to recruit as Kentucky assistants. Barbee is getting his 1st chance to recruit as a Kentucky assistant. He has never been in this kind of a strong recruiting position before. So let's see how Barbee does with the blue tie on. Apples to apples. To be fair.

 

[RondoBaller21]

Basically Slice only got Briscoe and nobody else.

 

[Cats192]

I think that Calipari+Kentucky is the recruiting.

That said, Barbee had to run his own program and get kids to come there. There's value in having a guy that has that experience.

 

[Chico&TheMan]

Barbee had to run his own program and get kids to come there. There's value in having a guy that has that experience.

Not really, especially if they did not recruit high caliber players to the places where they were a head coach. If you have scholarships to give, then you will always get somebody, but it doesn't mean that they are worthy of the level at which you coach. That is part of the reason why he wasn't a successful head coach in a major conference.

I mean, you could say that there is value in any coach that (insert the blank), but you could make an argument for dozens of assistants out there who are more valuable in recruiting and have never been a head coach at a college program.

 

[rabidcatfan]

No, I think that Cal brought in Barbee only because of their friendship and the fact that Barbee is kind of Cal's protege'. Barbee is a good coach, as his record at UTEP and some of his big wins at Auburn can attest to, but he was never known as a great recruiter when he was an assistant at Memphis.

On the other side, a lot of Coach K's recent recruiting success can be directly attributed to Jeff Capel and Jon Scheyer; Dukes recruiting resurgence started really when Capel was canned at Oklahoma and he returned to Durham.

 

[doneitall]

Can he fill the void left by Antigua and Slice?

Slice can be replaced by anyone.

 

[brianpoe]

No, I think that Cal brought in Barbee only because of their friendship and the fact that Barbee is kind of Cal's protege'. Barbee is a good coach, as his record at UTEP and some of his big wins at Auburn can attest to, but he was never known as a great recruiter when he was an assistant at Memphis.

That is just not accurate.

Barbee was named the top assistant in CUSA by Street & Smith in 2005-06 and was also honored by Rivals.com as the nation's No. 3 recruiter while at Memphis.

HoopScoop magazine tabbed him as one of the nation's top assistant coaches in 2004. Memphis produced top 10 recruiting classes in each of Barbee's six years, including the 2001 class that was ranked No. 1 in the country.

The 2002 recruiting class would have been top-ranked had it not lost a player to the NBA.


http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools...c_non_event/mbb-guide-coaches-staff-58-79.pdf

 

[jguynn]

Tony is much better than Slice. Give him a chance. He just started in the position. Was unable to have contact as a director of basketball ops. He'll be terrific. Love to hear him speak. Players and families will love him.

Very well said he knows how to reach the brothers

Tony is much better than Slice. Give him a chance. He just started in the position. Was unable to have contact as a director of basketball ops. He'll be terrific. Love to hear him speak. Players and families will love him.

 

[rabidcatfan]

That is just not accurate.

Barbee was named the top assistant in CUSA by Street & Smith in 2005-06 and was also honored by Rivals.com as the nation's No. 3 recruiter while at Memphis.

HoopScoop magazine tabbed him as one of the nation's top assistant coaches in 2004. Memphis produced top 10 recruiting classes in each of Barbee's six years, including the 2001 class that was ranked No. 1 in the country.

The 2002 recruiting class would have been top-ranked had it not lost a player to the NBA.


http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools...c_non_event/mbb-guide-coaches-staff-58-79.pdf

Maybe so, but I'm willing to bet that Cal was responsible for most of that recruiting success.

According to the 24/7 composite, Barbee's recruiting classes at Auburn were ranked 32nd (2010), 51st (2011), 35th (2012), and 79th (2013). Not a good track record for a supposed "great" recruiter at a power conference school, especially one in the state of Alabama which produces a lot of great basketball players. Just for comparison, Bruce Pearl's 2014 class was ranked 30th, and his 2015 recruiting class is ranked 19th. A huge step up already. In fact, Jeff Lebo (Barbee's predecessor at Auburn) recruited as good or better than Barbee and he was never known as an ace recruiter. The fact of the matter is that Barbee just ins't an amazing recruiter, at least not with 5-star talent.

 

[brianpoe]

Maybe so, but I'm willing to bet that Cal was responsible for most of that recruiting success.

According to the 24/7 composite, Barbee's recruiting classes at Auburn were ranked 32nd (2010), 51st (2011), 35th (2012), and 79th (2013). Not a good track record for a supposed "great" recruiter at a power conference school, especially one in the state of Alabama which produces a lot of great basketball players. Just for comparison, Bruce Pearl's 2014 class was ranked 30th, and his 2015 recruiting class is ranked 19th. A huge step up already. In fact, Jeff Lebo (Barbee's predecessor at Auburn) recruited as good or better than Barbee and he was never known as an ace recruiter. The fact of the matter is that Barbee just ins't an amazing recruiter, at least not with 5-star talent.

You made this statement:

"but he was never known as a great recruiter when he was an assistant at Memphis"

That was false. Head coach and assistant are two different positions.

If Antigua's classes suck does that mean he sucked at UK? It was all Cal?

Can't have it both ways.

He might do a lousy job, but his record as an assistant was pretty good.

Pearl is a much bigger name, and no doubt a better coach in my opinion.

 

[wcc31]

@ Poe smacking some of you around.

 

[Bigblueforever]

Barbee more likely is a good recruiter but there a different in a good recruiter & outstanding one.

 

[doneitall]

We won't know until later what kind of job Barbee does as a recruiter, but for my 2 cents he can replace Slice without a doubt.

 

[brianpoe]

Barbee more likely is a good recruiter but there a different in a good recruiter & outstanding one.

I am not saying he will be good or great, but he has an outstanding record as an assistant in the past. Will that continue? Who knows.