It's great to see the football team getting some wins. It's even more fulfilling to know those wins are the result of hard-working players, an effective coaching staff and a competent head coach.
Unfortunately, we can't say that about the basketball team.
During the last three seasons, they have been little more than a disappointment. Even with head coach Tony Barbee's much lauded ability to recruit top players, the basketball team has flopped.
Of course, the blame lies on Barbee.
He is the perfect example of athletic director Jay Jacob's poor hiring skills. Barbee represents all the misplaced hype and false potential we have seen in Auburn coaches throughout the past nine years.
Of the three seasons Barbee has been head coach, the Tigers have not once made it past the first round of the SEC tournament. More importantly, he's never had a winning season with Auburn.
For all his supposed talent in recruiting-- which was the talk of the town in 2010 --the turnover rate has been deplorable with 12 players leaving the team, and he is going into this season with six freshmen on the roster.
But this doesn't have to be the end.
Basically, this season is Barbee's last chance to keep his job at Auburn. No amount of Jungle Jams or trips to the Bahamas can change that.
When Barbee was head coach at the University of Texas at El Paso, he consistently took the Miners to the Conference USA tournament.
He even managed to take the team to the NCAA tournament before he left for Auburn.
Perhaps his time at UTE P is what inspired the hype surrounding his arrival at Auburn. It probably even helped inspire the Auburn Arena.
We can't say what happened between then and now, and it honestly doesn't matter. What does matter is that at one point, Barbee was a winner.
It's time for him to be a winner again. It's time for Barbee to prove his critics wrong.
While we are disappointed in Barbee's time as coach so far, we do want to see him succeed.
We're tired of the long, drawn-out process and all the time it takes to find a new coach -- especially one who wins.
So yes, Barbee is on notice, but that doesn't mean he can't turn it around and show us what he's capable of.
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