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Friday, November 20, 1998
Barnes trying to settle rocky UT ship
By JAIME ARON AP Sports Writer
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - New Texas men's basketball coach Rick
Barnes has his work cut out for him.
He's replacing the winningest coach in program history, a guy
who was popular with fans but was forced out by a player-led revolt.
The key guy behind the coup, the team's star of the future,
ended up transferring to the best team in the conference. Another
talented player also left, leaving the team without a starting
point guard.
Ten scholarship players remain, but one is a new transfer and
another a partial qualifier. That leaves just eight men, plus
about a half-dozen walk-ons brought in mainly to have enough practice
bodies.
And even that isn't always working out. The annual Orange and
White intrasquad scrimmage had to be canceled because injuries
left the team without enough people to play five-on-five.
But Barnes isn't worried. He's been a winner in his previous
stints at George Mason, Providence and most recently Clemson,
and he's confident he can do it again at Texas.
"As you go into a situation, you try starting to lay a
foundation for how you want to run a program," said Barnes,
who brought into this season a .601 career record in 11 years
with six NCAA and three NIT appearances.
"The first ingredient is really to create an atmosphere
that's positive, understand a work ethic and build from there.
So far, I think we've really been patient and the players have
tried, too."
Barnes has four returning seniors, but no depth. That means
he's counting on seniors Kris Clack and DeJuan "Chico"
Vazquez, junior Gabe Muoneke and sophomore Chris Mihm to stay
healthy and injury-free. Vazquez already has been sidelined with
a knee injury.
The Longhorns fought hard in their season opener before falling
71-69 to Houston. The Cougars smothered 7-footer Mihm while allowing
Muoneke and Clack to score 16 each. Overall, the team had a horribly
low shooting percentage reminiscent of previous squads.
Texas gets its first home game Saturday against South Florida,
then faces a huge challenge on Wednesday by traveling to Tucson,
Ariz., to play Arizona. The Longhorns also will play nonconference
games against Georgia, Oral Roberts, San Diego, Utah, Wisconsin
and LSU, plus take part in the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii.
There's no telling what shape - mentally or physically - the
team will be in by the time they open Big 12 play Jan. 2 at Colorado.
But whatever adversity they're up against, Barnes expects them
to overcome it.
After all, he says, the perfect role model is already on campus,
noting that the Texas football team overcame the loss of its starting
quarterback and a 1-2 start to win six straight and earn a bowl
berth.
"I will often use to my team the analogy of how the football
team kept working and getting better," Barnes said. "They
stayed positive and kept believing. They've worked hard and gotten
better every week."
Barnes is much stricter on and off the court than his predecessor,
Tom Penders. For example, his players cannot wear earrings, facial
hair, headphones on campus or hats in buildings, and the shoot-whenever-you-want
theory on offense is a big no-no.
While Barnes is impatient for success, he realizes this is
a season of transition for himself, his players and the program.
"I think time can heal," said Barnes, who was hired
in April, about two weeks after Penders resigned following a controversy
fueled by Luke Axtell over the release of his grades by an assistant
coach. Axtell has since transferred to Kansas, and Bernard Smith,
now a sophomore, went to Houston.
"I think the players got caught in some of the crossfire,"
Barnes said. "I'm not sure they knew exactly what was happening.
When I got here they were in a blur. There's no question they
want to put it behind them and move on."
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