Barbee realistic for 2010
Since he took over for Jeff Lebo in March as Auburn’s new basketball coach, Tony Barbee has repeatedly said that no one will have higher expectations for this stuck-in-the-mud program than himself.
But as he displayed Monday on the SEC basketball summer teleconference, it’s even tough for him to avoid pumping the brakes on this upcoming season.
The numbers simply aren’t in Auburn’s favor.
“We’re starting over,” Barbee said. “We’re going to be young. We’ve lost 80 percent of our scoring and 80 percent of our rebounding.
“It’s going to be like molding clay. And every day is a different challenge. … It’ll be fun and a little apprehensive at the same time.”
Barbee, though, has been nothing but upbeat about the challenge that lies ahead for Auburn, which loses four of its top five scorers from 2009-10 and will feature just three scholarship upperclassmen this season, all of whom are juniors.
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Barbee does it again, welcome Chris Denson
Add another one to Tony Barbee’s first signing class.
Tuesday morning, Shaw (Columbus, Ga.) High point guard Chris Denson inked with the Tigers, according to the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer.
Denson, at 6-foot-2, 180 pounds, averaged 27 points per game as a senior, while racking up six assists, five rebounds and three steals per game, according to AuburnSports.com.
Three players have now signed on to play under Barbee in his first year on the Plains — Denson, swingman Josh Langford and forward Luke Cothron.
Langford, at 6-7, 203, out of Lee High School in Huntsville, was rated the top recruit in the state after finishing his senior season averaging 22 points and 13 rebounds per game.
Cothron, at 6-foot-9 and 218 pounds, averaged 31 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks per game as a senior last year for Flora Macdonald Academy in Red Springs, N.C.
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War Eagle Luke Cothron
The Huntsville basketball pipeline now apparently runs through Auburn.
Auburn coach Tony Barbee signed his second Rocket City prospect in as many weeks, as highly touted forward Luke Cothron, who inked with the Tigers on Thursday, will join Josh Langford to suddenly give Auburn’s frontcourt of the future a formidable one-two punch.
“Luke gives us a different level of talent,“ Barbee said in a university statement. “He is an immediate difference maker for us along the frontline. He is a guy who has the ability to score the ball in a variety of ways inside and outside. He has a knack for being around the ball which makes him a great rebounder.“
Cothron, at 6-foot-9 and 218 pounds, averaged 31 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks per game as a senior last year for Flora Macdonald Academy in Red Springs, N.C. He was considered the nation’s 45th best prospect and No. 11 power forward by Rivals.com.
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The Auburn Hype Machine, Chizik and Barbee get recruiting.
In Gene Chizik’s first year at Auburn, his staff, once it was fully assembled, made a significant splash in recruiting during its initial month.
It seemed the Tigers pulled some of the nation’s better recruits out of Trooper Taylor’s backward hat, as the coaches only had a short amount of time to make an impact on the trail.
With a full year under its belt, Chizik’s staff really showed what it was capable of this past February, signing a top-five class across every recruiting board in the nation.
In Tony Barbee’s first month on the job, he hit the road with just as much energy and purpose, getting into living rooms and high school gyms across Alabama within hours of his hiring, with the sole purpose of getting kids excited about a dormant basketball program.
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