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Holy cow!!! If THIS topic isn’t built for SFN then we might as well shut down the site!!
For years, Barnes was the apple of N.C. State fans’ eyes, and he aggressively tried to get in the hiring hunt when the Wolfpack replaced Jim Valvano with Les Robinson in 1990. At that time, Barnes was in his second season at Providence and third season as a college head coach. He didn’t then have any sort of national reputation.
When Herb Sendek replaced Robinson after the ’95-’96 season, Barnes was winning big at Clemson during an era when ACC schools rarely raided each other for coaches.
Then when State hired Sidney Lowe after Sendek went Arizona State in 2006, Barnes was firmly entrenched at Texas, coming off a 30-7 season and awarded with a long-term contract.
“The timing just was never right for me or State,” Barnes when his team reached the 2003 Final Four in New Orleans. “I was a State fan from the first time I knew anything about basketball. That ’74 team will always be my all-time favorite.”
Another Triangle-area team nabbed the headlines in that postseason when Roy Williams left Kansas and return to UNC.
Barnes’ team was stopped by Syracuse in the semifinal, 95-84 when the Carmelo Anthony and the Orange pulled away during the final 50 seconds. The Orange went on to defeat Williams’ Jayhawks in the title game, 81-78.
What Tudor chose to omit in ^this re-cap were the following key pieces of the Barnes + NC State connection:
(1) In 2001, BEFORE Barnes got TJ Ford and made the Final Four run, Lee Fowler/NC State literally made history by not firing Herb Sendek after his 5th consecutive season without reaching the NCAA Tournament. At that point in time Barnes was exceptionally well positioned for the State job and ‘rumors’ were that he would’ve jumped at the chance.
(2) In 2006, when Sendek left for Arizona State, Barnes was #1 on State’s list and Lee Fowler literally had to TRY to be a moron not to get him. At the end of the day, Fowler penny pinched in the financial negotiations with Barnes and showed himself to be such a moron that Barnes privately told friends he could never have worked for Fowler.
During their first & only face to face interview on the Monday or Tuesday after the Final Four (in a hotel beside the airport in Knoxville, TN), Fowler literally asked Barnes what he thought/how he would handle going head to head against Coach K and Roy Williams? Barnes answer was classic and went something like this: “The only people worried about Rick Barnes competing with Roy Williams and Coach K are Roy Williams and Coach K.”
I’m glad Tudor didn’t try to force fit anything into the Sidney/Gottfried transition. The Barnes ship had long sailed by then.
Good line by Barnes…wonder if the second was “are you totally stupid, Lee”????? Or worse!~
"Whomp 'em, Up, Side the Head"!
I really wanted Rick Barnes.
It ranks right up there with “What if Philip had redshirted in 2000?” What if Fowler had acted with even a shred of competence and fired Sendek in 2001 and we’d hired Barnes?
I give Herb credit – he looked dead in the water (lol) out there in the desert, but he has put together what appears to be a good team in a very solid/competitive conference. Another OT win last night and right in the thick of things. Zona is clearly not the same without Brandon Ashley. And I like Barnes, but he hasn’t been beyond the second round in 5 years, and missed it altogether last year. That changes this year.
I was just thinking the other night that I missed the days of the Weave-and-Heave and of being a bubble team at best for the NCAAT.
Oh, wait, I wasn’t.
Herb has made one tournament (or is it 2?) in five or so years.
Well,
I wonder, if you put Ricky Ticky and Herbie in the ring and padded them….who would come out on top.
Maybe Scott Smith could referee the event.
When they play either other, it will be interesting. Personally, I pulling for the Cats….not the devils…
Right now, I more interested in the weather for tomorrow night’s WFU game at the PNC….
I was just thinking the other night that I missed the days of the Weave-and-Heave and of being a bubble team at best for the NCAAT.
Oh, wait, I wasn’t.
Herb has made one tournament (or is it 2?) in five or so years.
One tournament appearance in 7 years, where he was knocked out in the second round. Truly, the man is a coaching powerhouse.
Some dummy on Packpride had the audacity of asking who was HWSNBN was? He thought it was Willie York!
"Whomp 'em, Up, Side the Head"!
Vintage herb during asu zona game. Tie game, 20 seconds left in game, 7 seconds left on shot clock. Her calls timeout to draw up a good play. Guess what happens next?
Surely not a contested last second heave from 3?
Paul Biancardi
?@PaulBiancardi
Biggest win for Herb Sendek at #ASU ! Great to see a coach allowed time to build a program!Biggest win for Herb Sendek at #ASU ! Great to see a coach allowed time to build a program!
— Paul Biancardi (@PaulBiancardi) February 15, 2014
Yes, it’s great to see a coach get time to build a program, especially after being so unappreciated at NC State after building our program to a solid number three or four in the conference every single year. And then he was unceremoniously fired, and now has had to wander in the desert for seven long years.
And here, finally, he’s accomplished a win over the #2 team in the nation. What more could there be in the sports world? All championships get you is faded banners and dusty old trophies that you have to keep clean. Fie, I say! Give me consistent mediocrity any day.
I know that you know this…but almost nothing you said was true. Just didn’t want any new readers to not get your sarcasm.
I feel for Sean Miller having to battle injuries at this point in the season. Wonder how ASU would’ve done if Arizona was at full strength.
Wait. No I don’t.
I know that you know this…but almost nothing you said was true. Just didn’t want any new readers to not get your sarcasm.
You’re right, I forgot to mention he was only given 10 years at NC State. It takes time to build a program!
And we went to 5 NCAA tournaments in a row, and even won a couple of games! Only 64 teams get to participate in the tournament. When has a program like NC State ever experienced such great heights?
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