We have, apparently, officially reached the point in the season when job security will become an issue at multiple programs. No, there is no need to worry about your favorite master fresh-fry dispenser. Rather, it has a little more to do with the leader of free labor young men in college basketball — which brings us to the state of the Texas basketball program.
To understand everything that is currently going on with the Longhorns you must first understand the man behind the program, Rick Barnes.
For better or worse, Barnes is the face of the program. If you just look at his overall record while with Texas (575-399, for a winning percentage of .694) it could be safe to say things have gone pretty smoothly during his tenure. Two Sweet 16s, two Elite Eights and a Final Four appearance are certainly nothing to sneeze at either. However, it should be noted that all of that seems like ages ago, especially to certain people.
The backlash towards Barnes isn’t new. It has been building for a few years now. His detractors feel that no one could do less with more than the 1987 CAA coach of the year.
The point is actually rather fair.
Despite regularly attracting some of the best high school talent in the country to play for him, Barnes has not led Texas to the Sweet 16 or better since the 2007-’08 season… although it should also be noted that the Big 12 wasn’t as spectacular that season itself. That’s not to pooh-pooh the Horns’ Elite Eight run, but the 31 wins they scavenged that year were mostly against ho-hum competition.
There is something to be said for Barnes still being able to lure some of the best players to Austin. Sure, it would be nice if he did a little bit more with NBA-level players he regularly has at his disposal, but the alternative would be fielding a less talented team with a coach who seems like he can’t help guys reach their full potential.
That’s where the problem begins. No one is saying Rick Barnes is the worst coach in the history of amateur basketball. Rather, the critics argue that he just isn’t that great. He’s not a good-enough fit for the Texas job.
What is the Texas job, though? Is Texas basketball Texas basketball or is it Texas basketball under the leadership of Rick Barnes? Don’t kid yourself, either. There is most certainly a difference.
I ask the question because whether you think Rick Barnes is the worst thing since FX stupidly cancelled Terriers or the greatest thing since the invention of the DVR, Texas would be a much different program without him leading the charge.
It is the same question most fan bases at most universities need to ask themselves: Can you do better than the current coach you have?
Some schools are certainly in that category, where the tradition of the program and not the coach makes it all that and a bag of chips. North Carolina was built by the right hands in the person of Dean Smith, but as time has passed and UNC ran through a few other coaches, it has become clear that the legacy built by the legend has not been lost upon the school or — more importantly — prospective coaches. That is why few panicked when it took the program a minute to figure out who the next man would be to lead the program. This is also why Roy Williams is viewed as just another coach in a presumably long line of guys to help sustain the tradition of UNC hoops. Basically, coaches will want to coach at North Carolina because of the Tar Heel name.
The other side of the spectrum would be a program like St. John’s. The Red Storm currently employ Steve Lavin, who is billed as a master recruiter, but hasn’t really done much to bring the Johnnies back to a level of relevance the fan base was hoping for. Yet, it is widely understood that Lavin is leaps-and-bounds better than the Norm Roberts era, and it is unlikely that the school could hire another name as big as Lavin if it was to get rid of him. (Does this mean Lou Carnesecca is a vastly underrated coach in college basketball history? That’s another question for another day, but it’s a fascinating one.)
So that’s where we are with Texas basketball. Many want Barnes out because he hasn’t done much with a lot of talent. Talent, mind you, that he is responsible for bringing in. His inabilities don’t make that excusable either, though. All this puts the Horns in their current — and complicated — situation: They’re a really above-average program that should probably be better… because Rick Barnes brings in the type of talent that dictates a set of expectations which should be higher than first- and second-round exits from the NCAA Tournament.
Perplexed? Good. Me too.
Texas basketball and Rick Barnes, everybody.
