Mitch Barnhart: "I didn't get in this business to finish last."
The focus to close out the week was not on John Calipari or the Kentucky men's basketball program. Mitch Barnhart made that clear.
Mitch Barnhart: "I didn't get in this business to finish last."
- Thread starter RunninRichie
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“I’d like to just talk about women’s basketball today, if I could. If we can do that, I’d like to do that,” he said. “I think we have a standard for all of our athletics, OK? And I’ve never wavered from that. Let’s leave it at that.”
Everything he needed to say about men’s basketball was said earlier in the week in a sit-down conversation alongside John Calipari with BBN Tonight. That’s where he talked about that program’s recent stretch of underperforming in March with no second weekends in the NCAA Tournament since 2019.
“There’s no one that has missed the standard, we understand that,” he said at the time. “We’ve won six SEC Tournaments with Cal, we’ve won six regular-season titles, we’ve been to four Final Fours, seven Elite Eights. It’s not that we don’t know how to get there. We’ve hit a patch where we haven’t, and that is not lost on us. He and I are a little bit competitive, we certainly like to win.
“That has been in our DNA from the beginning of his career and mine. We didn’t come to this program to sit here and say, ‘Hey, let’s just see if we can casually walk through this thing and in sashay all the way to the end of the deal.’ I want to win.”
“I think you guys know me well enough to know, there’s never been a day that I haven’t had high expectations for all of our sports programs. If you guys want me to sit here and rattle off all the things our teams have done and what we’re doing currently, you’d go, ‘Oh, here he goes again.’ I know how this works,” Barnhart joked. “I value my gymnastics team as much as I value my men’s tennis team, my baseball team. They’re all doing pretty good, by the way, you know? If you want me to keep going, I can do that.
“My point is, my expectations are high for everybody. If you know me long enough, have I ever not wanted to win at something? No, I’m a pretty stinking competitive guy. I want to win. It matters. I didn’t get in this business to finish last. I compete and educate, those are two things I will do incredibly well. We’re gonna graduate 140 kids in May. 140 kids will walk across and get their degrees, that means a ton to me. And it will change lives through that, but we’re also going to change lives through what they do and what they learn in their competitive venues. And that’s really good.”
Everything he needed to say about men’s basketball was said earlier in the week in a sit-down conversation alongside John Calipari with BBN Tonight. That’s where he talked about that program’s recent stretch of underperforming in March with no second weekends in the NCAA Tournament since 2019.
“There’s no one that has missed the standard, we understand that,” he said at the time. “We’ve won six SEC Tournaments with Cal, we’ve won six regular-season titles, we’ve been to four Final Fours, seven Elite Eights. It’s not that we don’t know how to get there. We’ve hit a patch where we haven’t, and that is not lost on us. He and I are a little bit competitive, we certainly like to win.
“That has been in our DNA from the beginning of his career and mine. We didn’t come to this program to sit here and say, ‘Hey, let’s just see if we can casually walk through this thing and in sashay all the way to the end of the deal.’ I want to win.”
“I think you guys know me well enough to know, there’s never been a day that I haven’t had high expectations for all of our sports programs. If you guys want me to sit here and rattle off all the things our teams have done and what we’re doing currently, you’d go, ‘Oh, here he goes again.’ I know how this works,” Barnhart joked. “I value my gymnastics team as much as I value my men’s tennis team, my baseball team. They’re all doing pretty good, by the way, you know? If you want me to keep going, I can do that.
“My point is, my expectations are high for everybody. If you know me long enough, have I ever not wanted to win at something? No, I’m a pretty stinking competitive guy. I want to win. It matters. I didn’t get in this business to finish last. I compete and educate, those are two things I will do incredibly well. We’re gonna graduate 140 kids in May. 140 kids will walk across and get their degrees, that means a ton to me. And it will change lives through that, but we’re also going to change lives through what they do and what they learn in their competitive venues. And that’s really good.”
Him and Cal are made for each other.
Been better if he hadn't said anything.
Well, then I guess he can argue he has succeeded. Because we haven’t finished last. I mean not DEAD last.
“We’re 13th out of 14 teams in the SEC in record in the SEC Tournament over the last four years.”
So not last. Next to last.
So not last. Next to last.
I guess he's not into finishing last. Cool. MB surely seems to be into polishing turds over and over though, hoping some day to pull out diamonds. Sometimes you just have to flush and start over.
Yeah obviously didn’t get into the business to finish first either. MB likes all his teams around the C+/B- range.
Plan your exit strategy, Mitch. And good luck with the whole damage control thing. I’m sure UK fans won’t despise you by the end of next season.
He hired Joker, Billy Clyde Gillespie, and gave Cal this horrid contract.
He is dead last in my book.
He is dead last in my book.
Every move he makes shows how out of touch he is with the fanbase.
While they openly acknowledge a desire to navigate through the recent rough patch, they affirm their dedication to each other imo
cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater
cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater
if you’re as at uk and the bar is that low for hoops, you shouldn’t be in the business there.
Made Cal squirm for like 2 whole days. I heard on a podcast Mitch after we lost to Oakland had no plans to fire Cal. Then he was bombarded and scheduled the sit down. What a f**king joke. Right where we were. Mitch and Cal BOTH need to be canned ASAP
It’s not elite eights it’s final fours and titles. Barney is so tone deaf when it comes to Kentucky sports. The basketball team is the closest thing THE STATE has to a pro team in any sport. All he has done is water down and make all our programs average with a good season here and there. He’s a loser. It’s evident in that uk bb has missed the tournament 3x while this Ass hat has been AD with the worst season in 100 years. It is possible to say “ok this program is the platinum standard in its sport and we will maintain that”. All the sports aren’t the same. This guy can’t walk and chew gum at the same time. You don’t let your frigging flagship program slide like this period! It’s total bs and no I’m not satisfied with this clowns softball interview with cal. Do a friggin press conference and bring in some national guys. Barney does not understand the magnitude of no run this year either that or he’s gonna hide until he leaves. He simply doesn’t get it about UK. He thinks tennis will save his butt.
So sad. This is not the standard here. Completely unacceptable.
I don't actually doubt Mitch has tried his best to elevate UK sports. The Cal hire was a homerun early on. Of course Mitch made a mistake after seeing the early success with that contract - he thought Cal would stay hungry and keep winning.
The Stoops hire was also a good one.
But again, the lifetime contract has stolen the spotlight from a lot of the good he has done.
The Stoops hire was also a good one.
But again, the lifetime contract has stolen the spotlight from a lot of the good he has done.
To damn bad that none of those 140 will get to walk across Rupp Arena floor and get a shiny new ring or anything like that. Hell, he just wished he could get all those ppl to buy tickets to the graduation and get some asses in seats.
Yes they do, how after these last 4-5 years and numerous “this finish isn’t good enough” BA talks he has had does he not have a plan in place if it kept happening. He should go first.
He didn’t even make that hire or at least shouldn’t get the credit. His ass would have hired some loser even back then if his hand wasn’t forced by people in the basketball program.
Mitch would never make it in a real job.
Well, we aren't last. Congrats!
Send Vandy a thank you letter.
Send Vandy a thank you letter.
I will say that’s the first time I ever heard Cal shut up while someone else spoke lol
That's insanely embarrassing. And 3 of those 4 years we were either the 2 or 3 seed.
N
Not to mention he gave an extension to Elzy when it was clear she was a horrible coach.
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Are you sure Vandy is last? They beat us last year in the SECT so that would at least make them tied with us. Is it Ole Miss or Georgia? It's sad that we're even talking about this.
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Mitch kept repeating all that Cal accomplished his first 8 years here.
I've not seen anyone toss the cold, hard facts in either one of their faces over the last five years and have Cal or Mitch answer for each one of those in turn.
Don't listen to what they say. Pay attention to what they actually do. For whatever reason - maybe it is the millions Cal is owed - but they are gaslighting the fan base.
Next year is going to be miserable.
I've not seen anyone toss the cold, hard facts in either one of their faces over the last five years and have Cal or Mitch answer for each one of those in turn.
Don't listen to what they say. Pay attention to what they actually do. For whatever reason - maybe it is the millions Cal is owed - but they are gaslighting the fan base.
Next year is going to be miserable.
Oh, so he got in the business to make a lot of money being mediocre. Got it. Both have demonstrated that they are fully qualified to become politicians. Just like Dire Straits described, both know how to get money for nothing.
O think your right.Looked as if mitch and Cal are in it together forever
🤦♂️Mitch Barnhart: "I didn't get in this business to finish last."
The focus to close out the week was not on John Calipari or the Kentucky men's basketball program. Mitch Barnhart made that clear.www.on3.com
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