DuckSouth.com

barnes lack of recruiting and SEC success was his downfall....... 1 led to the other....

final interview is tonight.... and the decision could be made as early as tonight or in the morning depending on logistics, etc... according to the AD. read what you wish into that statement...

Bigwater, I think recruiting was a big part of it ---absolutely. BUT, I think poor coaching was the primary culprit. Barnes simply could not coach a team up. And his coaching style, which seemed to change weekly, confused a lot of the kids and contributed to poor team chemistry. To play the style ball Barnes wanted to play, requires a great point guard and a good big man at center. We have not had this type of combo since Jason Harrison and Rahim Lockhart graduated. Rod simply could not adapt his system to our personnel. I think any of the top three coaches we are considering could have coached this current Ole Miss team, this year, to a winning record and at least NIT berth.

As for the lack of MS players, I agree. But, I don't expect any coach to be able to fill our roster with only MS players. There are simply not enough MS players year in and year out, that are SEC quality players and qualified to enter school. And out of the ones that are, the better ones seem to bypass college and jump straight to the NBA. So, unless our high schools start doing a better of job of preparing these kids for college, I think our new head coach will have to be able to recruit OOS to be successful. I expect to get our fair share of the few talented and qualified MS kids, but such will not be enough to compete well year in and year out in the SEC. The Justin Reed type of players, who do not jump to the NBA early, are rare in MS.

and it's a great day to be a rebel

yes indeed, it is a great day to be a Rebel

There is never a day when it's great to be a rebel.