[Cactus Jack]

Thanks Jack! I haven't researched him nearly as much as you have.
I appreciate you answer!

No problem.

I'll say this-- it just always confused the hell out of me to see Kentucky fans thinking that he should be the guy to replace Calipari. This probably came from his being able to beat Calipari with less talented teams-- teams with the ingredients that Kentucky fans had been calling for (more experience, less roster turnover, etc.). I was just never able to equate that with his being a good fit for Kentucky, or even being a good coach.

Before last March, people usually said "but he took Texas to the Final Four" but really glossed over how favorable his path there was and how much he almost backed into that one. I can tell you with certainty that no one in Austin or within their alumni base seems to miss him.

Pope obviously looks like he's working out, but when we talked about potential replacements for Calipari throughout the years, I had names like Bruce Pearl and Scott Drew way ahead of Barnes in terms of personal preference (we'll forget that Chris Beard was #1 because we didn't know then what we know now). I can see why people might have a problem with Pearl being a little too slippery for their liking, but he laid the foundation for Barnes at Tennessee, has worked a small miracle at Auburn, and is a great in-game coach. Barnes was able to come in after him (and Cuonzo Martin) and maintain some of that momentum, but I don't think he's done anything to elevate them past what Pearl built (especially if you are looking at what Pearl probably would have done had he been able to stay). Drew is another "football school" guy who inherited an outright mess and turned it into a national championship (and they were the best team that season).

Tennessee is probably going to be his last stop, but Barnes has always struck me as more of a "safe" hire for a school like a Penn State, Minnesota, South Carolina, Georgia, or LSU. He's been around long enough that he's a known quantity and will be able to do well enough without making you worry that he's blatantly breaking the rules. He doesn't seem to be prickly in the media or to be the type to be overly flashy or to do things that will rock the boat within your Athletics Department. He'll boost your regular season win total and consistently get you into the tournament within a few years, which is usually more than enough for those schools. But I wouldn't count on him to make a lot of noise in the tournament, and if he does, it seems to be the exception, not the rule.

If I'm an AD that has inherited an absolute dumpster fire and I have limited resources but want to win a national championship in basketball at some point in the next 15-20 years, I'd be interested in having him come in for a limited time to stabilize the program and build credibility. I'd do this with every intention of making the program much more attractive for the next hire I'd have to make and hope that he'd done enough for the profile of the program that I would have a legitimate chance at landing the next Dan Hurley (pre-UConn), Billy Donovan (pre-Florida), etc. If you look at it this way, then LSU might have been well-served to hire Barnes instead of Will Wade.