Uh-Oh, Happy Learned How To Putt
The basketball program at Auburn has pretty much been an afterthought. There was a conference championship season when my dad went there in the early '60's. They didn't win another until I attended in the mid-80's. They went to the Big Dance every season I was there and even got to the final 8 once. Charles Barkley (and Chris Morris & Chuck Person were all on the floor at the same time for two of those seasons--they'd each have good careers in the NBA) had an awful lot to do with that. There was also a stretch in the 90's where a coach loaded up with junior college transfers who came in and won big but then flunked out right before the NCAA tourney--but he kept doing it and it worked in the short term.
But, they don't win consistently, that's for sure. Basketball at Auburn gives people something to divert their attention from seeing if the running back from Palatka, Florida or the defensive end from New Smyrna, Georgia has backed off their verbal commitment to play football there next fall.
So, three years ago the administration made a commitment to basketball. New arenas are being designed. New training facilities are on the table. A very young coach who played at North Carolina was brought on board. He ran off all the juco thugs and started building a team with his own recruits--good students, hard workers, etc.
And they struggled for the last two years. Big time struggled. At one time they only had 7 players that could deal with the coach's work ethic and academic standards. Auburn fans didn't care because we're still enjoying a high degree of football prominence, so the losses were all under the radar.
ESPN showed the turnaround live and in-color last night: Auburn and it's one junior and stacks of sophomores/freshmen who have been getting kicked around for two years 81, #12 Alabama 57. This was 4 days after they upset #22 Tennessee. #1 Florida comes in Saturday--but there's hope now.
Something tells me this coach has built it the right way this time, and Tiger basketball might be back.
But even if it isn't: We throttled the Crimson Tide by 24 on national television. Sweet.
The basketball program at Auburn has pretty much been an afterthought. There was a conference championship season when my dad went there in the early '60's. They didn't win another until I attended in the mid-80's. They went to the Big Dance every season I was there and even got to the final 8 once. Charles Barkley (and Chris Morris & Chuck Person were all on the floor at the same time for two of those seasons--they'd each have good careers in the NBA) had an awful lot to do with that. There was also a stretch in the 90's where a coach loaded up with junior college transfers who came in and won big but then flunked out right before the NCAA tourney--but he kept doing it and it worked in the short term.
But, they don't win consistently, that's for sure. Basketball at Auburn gives people something to divert their attention from seeing if the running back from Palatka, Florida or the defensive end from New Smyrna, Georgia has backed off their verbal commitment to play football there next fall.
So, three years ago the administration made a commitment to basketball. New arenas are being designed. New training facilities are on the table. A very young coach who played at North Carolina was brought on board. He ran off all the juco thugs and started building a team with his own recruits--good students, hard workers, etc.
And they struggled for the last two years. Big time struggled. At one time they only had 7 players that could deal with the coach's work ethic and academic standards. Auburn fans didn't care because we're still enjoying a high degree of football prominence, so the losses were all under the radar.
ESPN showed the turnaround live and in-color last night: Auburn and it's one junior and stacks of sophomores/freshmen who have been getting kicked around for two years 81, #12 Alabama 57. This was 4 days after they upset #22 Tennessee. #1 Florida comes in Saturday--but there's hope now.
Something tells me this coach has built it the right way this time, and Tiger basketball might be back.
But even if it isn't: We throttled the Crimson Tide by 24 on national television. Sweet.
.jpg){kind=avatar}
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home