Rick Barnes

[leopold]

My UT friend tells me they going after Wichita St's coach.

So is Alabama. Should be an interesting bidding war between two schools with powerhouse money.

Pat Forde is reporting that Marshall has told 'Bama 'No Thanks.'

Also, it seems that the talks between Tennessee and Barnes are real.

[Planter's Punch]

If Bama wants a tournament team, why don't they shut down UAB's program and take their team

[East Coast Mustang]

Sounds like Bama is getting serious about bball-- supposedly was willing to offer somewhere in the range of $4M annually for Marshall

[Rebel10]

I think Marshall is headed to Texas and UT will start playing angry.

[TidePony]

I wouldn't be surprised if Bama hired Prohm (who would do a good job).

[RebStang]

I wouldn't be surprised if Bama hired Prohm (who would do a good job).

That's the name that seems to be floating around the most here in Birmingham.

Alabama's a hard sell for a basketball coach due to extreme lack of interest and massively outdated facilities. Coleman Coliseum is a dump and there are now going to be four schools in the SEC West alone that have facilities that blow Alabama's basketball facilities out of the water.

On that note, I'm going to have to try really hard to curtail my Alabama bashing once I start classes there this summer for my masters degree.

[East Coast Mustang]

If Bama is offering $3-4M/year, that hard sell becomes a lot easier. I think some Bama boosters see what Bruce Pearl is about to do at Auburn and are trying to keep up.

The SEC is going to have some really solid basketball programs in the near future if these recruiting classes are as good as hyped: LSU, A&M, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, and of course Kentucky

[RebStang]

If Bama is offering $3-4M/year, that hard sell becomes a lot easier. I think some Bama boosters see what Bruce Pearl is about to do at Auburn and are trying to keep up.

The SEC is going to have some really solid basketball programs in the near future if these recruiting classes are as good as hyped: LSU, A&M, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, and of course Kentucky

They may be willing to pay that kind of money but I'll have to see it before I believe it. They do generate enough of a surplus from football to do it (although their baseball renovations are going to cut into revenues for a while since baseball is not a revenue sport for them like it is at some other SEC West schools) but I'm not completely convinced that their AD will see the potential ROI from a fanbase that is generally football only.

You also have to recognize that Alabama's financial strength comes from numbers and not from having a few huge donors that can finance a multi-million dollar contract with pocket change. The Bammer masses generally don't care about any sport other than football and the vast majority of their basketball fanbase will come from Tuscaloosa/Northport which is generally not an affluent area (there are pockets that are amazing... Nick Saban's house is nowhere near the nicest in his neighborhood, for example... but that's the exception, not the rule).

It should also be pointed out that, if Charles Koch is involved, Wichita State can easily match anything any school can offer. The guy is one of the 10 wealthiest people in the world and he supports Wichita State basketball enough that they named their arena after him.

[TidePony]

The Big 3 sports at Bama are football, ladies gymnastics, and softball.
The baseball team is playing in Hoover while the baseball complex is redone.
Having said that, last year Alabama athletics made 35 million in profit, plus an extra 5 million in revenue from the first six months of the SEC network.

They have tons of money.

Reb is correct the basketball facilities are heinous.

Right now Alabama is in a world of hurt with all the stupidity and "Harper Valley PTA" scandal with UAB. Hopefully, now that the university is almost 60% out of state this will end all the madness and they can focus on improving their other programsp

[LA_Mustang]

“@PatDoneyNBC5: Longhorns freshman Myles Turner (Euless Trinity) is headed to the NBA Draft. One of nicest kids I've ever featured. @NBCDFW”

[smupony94]

Both @ChipBrownHD and @jerrymeyer247 reporting that Rick Barnes is expected to be named new Tennessee coach.

[LA_Mustang]

That was quick!

[Dutch]

Both @ChipBrownHD and @jerrymeyer247 reporting that Rick Barnes is expected to be named new Tennessee coach.

I thought the state jobs had to be posted for a 30 day period of time for some reason. then again, there's always a way around a rule.

[SoCal_Pony]

Sounds like Bama is getting serious about bball-- supposedly was willing to offer somewhere in the range of $4M annually for Marshall

always been a concern of mine. The P5 will price everyone else out of the market. That's effectively happened in FB, natural evolution is for it to now occur in BB as well.

[LA_Mustang]

I guess it's a good thing they eliminated the UAB football program because obviously the University of Alabama system is hurting for money....