40 Acres Sports

Rick Barnes took one last shot at Texas A&M at the basketball banquet. “Pooooor Aggie!”

It’s been a crazy day for Texas basketball fans. Depending on who you asked and when you asked the question, the answer was different every time. [tag]Rick Barnes[/tag] was either not interested, very interested, or already in contract talks for the open coaching position with the University of Kentucky.

Reports from early this afternoon were that Barnes was very interested in the job and that he was Kentucky’s second choice (behind Florida’s Billy Donovan), there was actually lots of noise that he was as good as gone. Either those reports were erroneous or something changed. The latest and most official news is that Rick Barnes will be back next year as the head basketball coach for the University of Texas.

Texas coach Rick Barnes on Thursday said he plans on being the Longhorns coach next season, shooting down speculation that he would entertain leaving for Kentucky’s vacant head coaching job. “I’m the Texas basketball coach,” Barnes said.

Great news for Texas fans. It sounds like Texas AD DeLoss Dodds and Barnes were able to work out more than just a pay raise to keep him in Austin. He and his entire staff deserve everything they get. Or maybe there was no raise but Kevin Durant called him up and told him he’d be back if Barnes was back. I can dream. There’s got to be at least a slightly higher chance KD comes back to school now. At the very least the Horns will have their basketball coach back and don’t have to worry about any current players or recruits wanting out.

My favorite rumor of the afternoon: Barnes to Kentucky and Texas A&M savior Billy Clyde Gillispie to Austin to replace him. As much as I would’ve hated to lose Barnes, the meltdown in Aggieland would have been hilarious and might have made it worth it. Though the Aggies are still screwed. Since Barnes passed on Kentucky, Gillispie is now the favorite there and he’s not likely to pass on the job. Texas A&M sources are already telling ESPN he’s gone. Now I can actually root for the guy.

No matter how everything went down, the Longhorns came very close to losing an incredible basketball coach today. Barnes is nowhere near a perfect coach, but he’s turned the Texas Longhorns into a marquee basketball program and Texas fans should be ecstatic that he’ll be back next year.

Rick Barnes is AP Big 12 coach of the year. Apparently Bill Simmons doesn’t get a vote.

Bill Simmons has a huge man crush on Kevin Durant, but has some pretty harsh words for how [tag]Rick Barnes[/tag] is handling his super-star freshman. In his latest Page 2 article on ESPN.com, Simmons absolutely rips into Rick Barnes, calling for his retirement and labeling his coaching unconscionable. Here is one of the funniest lines from his rant:

Do they have plays in their playbook called “Durant stands frozen 25 feet from the basket while other guys dribble aimlessly” and “half-assed pick-and-roll that leads to nothing” and “Durant posts up while the point guards stare him down, then reverse the ball the other way?”

I have to admit, lately I have been saying something along the same lines. Durant needs to get the ball more. Actually, Durant has to WANT the ball more. But I think this will come in time. Durant is still young and growing into a leader.

I actually think Barnes is doing a good job handling all of the youth he has on the floor. I mean, Texas is 22-8 so far on the season and was 1 game away from winning the tough Big 12. I would say he is doing an alright job. Ease up Bill.

You can read the whole rant after the jump.

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A lot of love in the media the last few weeks for the Texas A&M basketball program and the job Billy Gillispie is doing turning garbage into wins, but the Houston Chronicle points out that the Longhorns are still the premier program in the state. The Texas program was never at the horrid depths that the Aggies were, but [tag]Rick Barnes[/tag] has taken it to a whole new level of excellence and consistency.

Some interesting facts from the article:

• Wins against ranked teams: Penders 10, Barnes 38.
• Trips to the Sweet 16: Penders 2, Barnes 4.
• Final Fours: Penders 0, Barnes 1.
• McDonald’s All-American recruits: Penders 1, Barnes 8.
• Weeks in top 10: Previous 92 years: 3, Barnes: 41.
• Only three schools have advanced to the Sweet 16 in four of the last five years – Duke, Connecticut and Texas.
• Texas is one of just nine programs to advanced to eight straight NCAA Tournaments.
• America’s favorite college basketball programs: Duke, North Carolina, UCLA, Kentucky, and Texas.

Bob Knight shows his softer side, giving Rick Barnes framed strategy notes from his record breaking 880th win against New Mexico.

Rick Barnes liked the effort against OSU, but he’s using the loss to motivate them for Villanova.

I beg to differ on one point, Texas fans bitch about the basketball coaching nonstop as well.

Does this squash any Barnes to NC State rumors?