Auburn Hires Former Calipari Asst. Tony Barbee

Auburn hires UTEP's Tony Barbee as new hoops coach

By Evan Woodbery, AL.com

March 25, 2010, 5:41AM

AUBURN -- Tony Barbee, a fresh-faced 38-year-old with a championship pedigree and a winning resume, has been hired as Auburn's new basketball coach.

Barbee, who will be publicly introduced at a press conference this evening, becomes Auburn's first African-American head coach in a major-revenue sport and the 20th coach in the program's history.

Barbee will inherit a youthful and inexperienced team but also a gleaming, new arena and practice facility and perhaps a renewed commitment to a sport that has traditionally been well behind football in popularity and importance at Auburn.

"We have challenges in front of us, but we also have great opportunities with everything Auburn has to offer -- a great university, outstanding community, tremendous fan support, and a terrific new arena and practice facility," Barbee said in a statement released by the school late Wednesday. "The time is now to take Auburn basketball to new heights."

Barbee replaces Jeff Lebo, who had only one winning SEC campaign in his six seasons at Auburn. Lebo was fired less than two weeks ago and has since been hired as the new head coach at East Carolina.

The search for Lebo's replacement was conducted largely under the radar, although a handful of public candidates emerged, including Morehead State coach Donnie Tyndall, Sam Houston State's Bob Marlin, North Texas coach Johnny Jones and Wright State coach Brad Brownell.

"Coach Barbee has a vision of competing for championships at Auburn, and the passion to get us there," said Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs. "He is a phenomenal coach, an outstanding recruiter and a fierce competitor. ... We could not be happier to have him as the new face of Auburn basketball as we prepare to open a new era in a new arena next season."

Barbee is best known for his long affiliation with current Kentucky coach John Calipari, who is celebrated as a recruiter but has also been criticized for running programs into NCAA trouble.

Barbee played for Calipari at Massachusetts from 1989-1993. He served as a graduate assistant at UMass and spent six seasons with Calipari at Memphis. In four years at UTEP, Barbee was 82-52. The Miners went 15-1 and won the Conference USA regular-season championship this season, but received only a No. 12 seed in the NCAA tournament after falling to Houston in the conference title game.

UTEP lost to fifth-seeded Butler in the first round of the NCAA tournament last week.

Barbee reportedly made about $300,000 annually at UTEP, and Auburn will owe his former school a buyout payment of roughly that amount, according to the El Paso Times. Barbee is expected to make more than $1.5 million a year at Auburn.

Lebo made $785,000 annually, and Auburn was required to pay a $1.5 million buyout to fire him.

Barbee was part of a staff that helped revive a traditionally strong program at Memphis in the 2000s. During his tenure, the Tigers won 148 games, nearly 25 per season, and made six consecutive postseason appearances.

Barbee is a native of Indianapolis. He and his wife Holly have a son, Andrew, and a daughter, Hayden. He received a degree from UMass in 1993 with a major in sports management and minor in African-American studies.

(Charles Goldberg of the Birmingham News contributed to this report.)


2010 al.com. All rights reserved.