Rick Barnes Speculation Begins

General NCS Basketball31

There is some speculation that Texas coach Rick Barnes, who grew up in Hickory, N.C., could head back home to N.C. State and replace Sendek.

About StateFans

'StateFansNation' is the shared profile used by any/all of the dozen or so authors that contribute to the blog. You may not always agree with us, but you will have little doubt about where we stand on most issues. Please follow us on Twitter and FaceBook

General NCS Basketball

31 Responses to Rick Barnes Speculation Begins

  1. Chief93 04/02/2006 at 4:17 PM #

    “then one thing is for sure. RBC ticket prices soar. If so, to get your money’s worth they’ll need to drop the Citadel and others, and replace with high caliber OOC foes.”

    This may be partially true insofar as prices going up, but if we get in a situation of hurting for money, it won’t result in you getting higher caliber home games for that premium, it will result in higher caliber road games without return games and then whoever we can get for cheap to fill out our RBC commitments. You don’t just get everything you want across the board without something giving somewhere.

  2. The Original Big Bad Wolf 04/02/2006 at 6:47 PM #

    Well, anyone scared off because we don’t want mediocrity is probaby mediocre.

  3. PACDADDY 04/02/2006 at 6:51 PM #

    I’m appreciative of Statefans for sticking to your guns and doing what you thought was right for this BB program. Us supporters of Coach Sendek needed this to happen the way it did. I felt had the admin forced him out the media would have had a field day and made it more difficult to find the right coach.

    Herb is a class guy and I’m sure he would encourage anyone he has a relationship with to take this job. He knows this is one of the best jobs in the Nation and he has to know the fans are passionate about winning.

    What coach worth 2 cents wouldn’t want to compete at highest level, with the 3rd best tradition in the most storied conference in the Nation? WE have first rate facilites and a hunger for greatness.

    I sit back and look at the amount of time I supported Herb because of the fear I had of “starting over”. Well…Herb as built a tremendous foundation and all we need now is the right coach to take us back to top.

    Barnes…Pitino…Calipari…Gillespie…these guys aren’t scared of UNC and Duke…they should look forward to getting on a bus to Chapel Hill and putting it to the holes…or having K scream at the refs while we beat the pants of Duke.

    This is the 3rd best job(WAS 2ND) in the best conference in the Nation. “Tobacco Road” is big enough for 3 great BB programs, just like it was in the past.

    I say this because I’m confident we will get a TOP FLIGHT COACH. I wasn’t so confident before, but this played out to EVERYONES benefit and the pressure by “LUNITIC FRINGE” fans did it.

    Don’t get me wrong…I’m passionate….I screamed at the TV enough to make my kids think I’m crazy…I fussed about Herb and the players doing things I couldn’t understand to my 10 year old and close friends, but at the end of the day, I saw improvement at every turn…But the excuses were too much to deal with every season…accountabliity had to become apart of the equation.

    I’m a loyal person by nature. If I see loyalty towards me, I give it back. I’m that way in my business, with my family and friends. I saw it with Herb…he worked his tail off for this school and earned every cent he made. But at the end of the day the improvement wasn’t reflected in his work habits. There were many reasons for this, but the fact is, I needed to step back and quit trying to find reasons or explainations and admit 10 years was long enough. I was close to climbing over the fence and Herb help me and many like me off the hook.

    Thank you Herb…thank you for all your hard work, loyalty and deep passion to succeed the right way. Thank you for the ground work you laid for us. I really think this board did a wonderful job of helping guys like me feel better about this situation. That’s way I kept coming back.

    I will say this…if we don’t get a GREAT replacement, I hold Fowler and others responsible, because there’s NO EXCUSE for this program to flounder with another MID LEVEL coach(HERB ISN’T MID LEVEL GUYS). We need immediate NAME RECOGNITION and CREDIBILITY. We need a coach that the media will say…How did this happen? We need the media to SEE what we all know…

    NCSU IS A GREAT PROGRAM AND SCHOOL, WITH PASSIONATE FANS AND HAS A LOT TO OFFER ANY COACH WORTHY OF COMPETING AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL.

    GO STATE!

  4. Trout 04/03/2006 at 7:34 AM #

    ^ Good post PacDaddy.

  5. John adams 04/03/2006 at 10:28 AM #

    Herb reminded me of the guy who did just enough year after year to keep his job. Never a top producer but not a bottom feeder either. Had he stayed he would have continued to produce the same mediocre results. And at Arizona State he’ll continue on that path. Bring in someone who has passion and fire in the belly

  6. NoMoreHerb 04/03/2006 at 1:30 PM #

    This was posted on longhornnation.com earlier today.

    April 3rd, 2006

    Why Rick Barnes Is Not Leaving Texas for NC State
    By awiggo
    Posted on Mon Apr 03, 2006 at 01:28:52 AM EST

    Herb Sendek, the head coach at North Carolina State, left over the weekend for Arizona State. There is already speculation that UT Head Coach Rick Barnes could replace Sendek at NC State. Barnes is originally from Hickory, NC and some think we would love to return home. I -really- don’t think that is going to happen. Barnes denied any interest in the NC State job to the Austin American Statesman on Sunday.

    A couple of quick reasons why Barnes stays in Austin:

    1. Texas, along with Kansas, is the class of the Big 12. NC State is not even close to the class of the ACC.

    2. Texas gets top recruits with every class including at least two McDonald’s All Americans in this class and three in the 2004 class (Lamarcus Aldridge, Daniel Gibson, Mike Williams). NC State is like the Tech of North Carolina. The Wolfpack get the recruits that Duke and North Carolina chose not to pursue.

    3. Kevin Durant.

    4. The Horns have been to the NCAA tournament every year since Barnes arrived. We have built a multi million dollar practice facility and upgraded the Erwin Center to include luxury boxes and seats closer to the court. Barnes is building a basketball power house at a traditionally football school. He has started the process, but his work is not complete.

    5. Rick Barnes on Herb Sendek and NC State before the NC State game in Dallas:

    “I don’t think there is a finer coach anywhere. I look around at the job he’s done at NC State, I think it’s remarkable really.”
    “I’ll be quite frank, I don’t think it has ever been fair for the way he has been treated. I think he is one of the most underated coaches. I think he has poured everything he’s had into the State job, and I don’t think they can find a better coach to coach their team than him.”
    “Yea it really does bother me because if you want me to be quite blunt I’ve got one of the best jobs in the country. Yea, I grew up in North Carolina but I have no desire to coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference or coach anywhere else other than Texas. It bothers me more, not so much about that, it bothers me more that Herb hasn’t been appreciated the way he should be appreciated.”
    “I was there when he first started. I know what he walked into, I know the problems they were having when he got there, what he did with the program. There’s a lot of coaches, a lot of programs that would like to have his resume right now. He’s had great success, he’s going to continue to have great success, but what bothers me most of all is he deserves more than the way he’s being treated.”
    “I just know there is no finer person and I don’t want to see anybody that’s been treated the way he’s been treated, especially with the kind of job he’s done for them.”

    In conclusion, Rick Barnes currently has a better job than the one open at NC State. The money might be enticing as would going home. But the upside at Texas is too great, and he has already invested too much to walk away now. Who in their right mind would leave with Kevin Durant and DJ Augustin joining our current crop of studs this fall?

    The speculation will continue until NC State hires a new coach. We fully expects Rick Barnes on the sidelines in Austin this fall.

1 2

Leave a Reply