Remember when Smart's name was rumored for almost every opening? I know the Longhorns are young, but they also have good talent yet they're sitting at 8-13 and losing to Texas Tech at home tonight.
Barnes is a solid floor coach, and his staff are unreal talent developers. My only issues with Barnes are his recruiting and age. We have to recruit post players better. Could you imagine if we had just one skilled 6'8" or bigger post player to go along with this team? In the end, I really appreciate what Barnes is doing for us. I think Barnes is a solid coach, and I think we'd be fools to even think about another coach until Barnes says it's time to hang em up.
That's something I've never understood about Barnes even when they were winning at a high level he never really seemed to recruit that well....I think he just looks for guys that fit into his system...almost stubbornly so imo..he would probably have a NC if he had recruited better at Texas
I don't know that here is a better fit for our program at this time. First of all I wish we would have pulled a coach of his level and style when we let buzz Peterson go. Rick was a safe hire for a program that was experiencing turmoil outside the lines of the court. A program that had seen much instability that needed a solid and stable figure on the sidelines. Tennessee met those requirements when they hired coach Barnes. However, what they didn't realize from a basketball perspective, we hired a guy that could evaluate talent and go after guys that we could realistically land in our program at that time who stilll had the potential under the development of rick barnes to overachieve and have an imeadiate impact. This coach is something we have never seen at UT a basketball coach that can not only coach and recruit but can succeed with freshman 3 star players. Imagine if we would have hired him 8 years ago and watched him develop the top recruits in the country these past 3-4 years. This guy can flat out develope players and teach them to play the game to the point they will beat teams they are under matched against. The longer he stays the more we will see that. Barnes will develop kids regardless of their rating and if he stays long enough to recruit top prospects, look out.
That's something I've never understood about Barnes even when they were winning at a high level he never really seemed to recruit that well....I think he just looks for guys that fit into his system...almost stubbornly so imo..he would probably have a NC if he had recruited better at Texas
Barnes is a solid floor coach, and his staff are unreal talent developers. My only issues with Barnes are his recruiting and age. We have to recruit post players better. Could you imagine if we had just one skilled 6'8" or bigger post player to go along with this team? In the end, I really appreciate what Barnes is doing for us. I think Barnes is a solid coach, and I think we'd be fools to even think about another coach until Barnes says it's time to hang em up.
That's something I've never understood about Barnes even when they were winning at a high level he never really seemed to recruit that well....I think he just looks for guys that fit into his system...almost stubbornly so imo..he would probably have a NC if he had recruited better at Texas
So, you have a problem with his age? He is 62.
3 of the 4 coaches in the final four last year were older than Rick Barnes:
Roy Williams (UNC) 66
Jim Boeheim (Syracuse) 72
Lon Kruger (Oklahoma) 64
Here are some other coaches who have made the final four since 2010 who are currently 62 or older (in some cases much older) and still coaching:
Mike Krzyzewski (Duke) 69
Tom Izzo (Michigan St) 62
Rick Pitino (Louisville) 64
John Beilein (Michigan) 63
Bob Huggins (West Virginia) 63
What age would you be comfortable with? Coaching college basketball at an elite level doesn't appear to be for young men. The fact is that most of the best coaches are at least 54 years old (John Calipari is 57, Bill Self is 54, Jay Wright is 55).
Obviously, RB still has a lot left in the tank. He is a outstanding game coach. I really don't like his recruiting methods, but it's working so what do I know.
If you don't think Smart will have Texas back to elite status sooner than later, then you're fooling yourself.
So, I would trade 60 year old RB for 39 year old SM