Tony Barbee might work for John Calipari again
AUBURN -- Tigers fans may see a familiar face on the opposing bench next season.
Tony Barbee, who was fired less than two hours after Auburn's loss to South Carolina in the SEC tournament in March, could end up back working for his mentor, John Calipari, at Kentucky this fall.
"He and I are talking about coming with us, so that's an option for him," Calipari said during last week's SEC Spring Meetings in Destin, Florida. "I know there's some NBA opportunities he may go after and he may take a year. He's got three years to figure out what he wants to do. He'll be a head coach again but I think he'll have options."
It's not clear what role Barbee, who spent six years as an assistant under Calipari at Memphis and played for him while at UMASS, could potentially fill at Kentucky since the Wildcats have a full coaching staff after Barry Rohrssen was hired to replace Orlando Antigua, who left for South Florida.
Barbee, who Auburn owes an approximately $2.4 million buyout through 2017, became the third of six former Calipari assistants to be fired from a head coaching position, joining Chuck Martin and Steve Roccaforte.
"Hard business we're in. Most jobs are like small business – you're 30 days from bankruptcy – one or two things go wrong, you're out," Calipari said. "That's how this is. One kid got hurt, another kid - he was ineligible. In basketball it's different than having the cavalry in football. You got five guys, one or two of that is 40 percent of your team.
"How was I as a coach when we lost Nerlens (Noel)? I was really good; first round NIT (and) out. That's just how it is. There are circumstances that lead to some of that stuff. You go back and say what (Barbee) did at UTEP, which was outstanding and unbelievable, you can't throw that away."
Barbee has not spoken publicly since his dismissal nearly three months ago.
Calipari believes Barbee will be a head coach again despite a tenure at Auburn that was among the worst four-year periods in the history of a beleaguered program.
His 49-75 overall record was the worst four-year stretch for the program since 1971-74, and a 18-50 SEC record, not including his four SEC Tournament losses, was the worst four-season period of conference play since 1943-47 (no team was fielded in 1943-44 due to World War II).
Auburn experienced its worst single-season stretch ever, with losses in 16 of 17 games to close the 2012-13 season, the worst SEC losing streak (15 regular season, 16 to conference foes), no wins over ranked opponents (0-11), and a 2-6 mark against Alabama, including 0-4 at Coleman Coliseum, under Barbee.