One of the behind-the-scenes figures for Auburn basketball coach Tony Barbee is Mike Babul, director of basketball operations and a crucial figure in running daily operations as well as Barbee's summer basketball camp.
Babul shares a extensive history with Barbee as a player, coach and close friend.
"Mike Babul is someone who is near and dear with me, having coached him when I was an assistant coach at UMass," Barbee said. "I coached him for three years there, and then we worked together on the staff at Memphis for a year."
Babul has been Barbee's director of basketball operations for the past five years, first at the University of Texas at El Paso and now Auburn.
Every day, Babul tackles many of the logistical issues that arise during the daily grind. He covers everything from practice scheduling to paperwork to chartering flights and booking hotels for road contests.
Babul is also in charge of communicating with the academic coordinator to make sure players' academic needs are met.
In the offseason, Babul's main focus is Barbee's annual summer basketball camp.
"Running a basketball camp is a full-time job in itself," Babul said. "It is especially demanding due to the number of sessions we conduct here at Auburn University. From April through September, I spend countless hours dealing with coach Barbee's camp business."
Babul credits running two basketball camps in Georgia and Massachusetts as important experience for running Auburn's, but the task is not without its challenges.
"The hard part is the advertising and promotions and building your camp numbers," Babul said. "The compliance paperwork and the auditing process is also time consuming."
Auburn is the first SEC program Babul has been involved with. Previously, he coached at UTEP, Drexel and Youngstown State.
"That is what putting a winning product on the floor will bring, and we hope to get the game atmosphere at Auburn Arena to that level," Babul said. "I'm not going to lie, Rupp Arena (of the Kentucky Wildcats) was pretty impressive last season. and generally it is a great atmosphere at any SEC school we visit."
The history between Barbee and Babul includes many victories as well as growing pains, but Babul said the March 2010 UTEP win over UAB--sealed by a slam dunk from Derek Caracter to clinch the Confrence USA Title--was a big step for the UTEP basketball program.
Barbee, Babul and the UTEP staff instilled an attitude about selfless play and accepting nothing but success, and Babul said he wants this mindset to carry over to Auburn.
With SEC play underway, Babul made the staff's goals for success very clear.
"We are anxious and determined to build this program and get the Tigers back to the NCAA Tournament," he said.
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