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Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart Hindering Kentucky Basketball Program, Per Report

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2 years ago

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UK Athletics

John Calipari and Kentucky Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart are not ones to swap Christmas cards with each other, but have had to coexist over the last decade-plus. While the relationship between the two has never been great, it was better at one time.

When DeWayne Peevy, who’s now the AD at DePaul, served as an assistant Athletic Director at Kentucky (2008-2020), he acted as the intermediary between Calipari and Barnhart. In this role, Peevy was key in helping the basketball program secure funding.

Without Peevy, that relationship has turned for the worse and is basically non-existent. This hasn’t been helped by Calipari’s “football school” comments from this summer and the results of the basketball program in recent seasons.

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With that said, just how bad has it gotten? A report suggests that Barnhart is significantly hampering the basketball program.

Let’s start with this past summer’s “football school” comments. According to Kyle Tucker of the Athletic, Calipari wanted to immediately publicly apologize, but was told by Barnhart not to.

Instead, Barnhart joined football coach Mark Stoops for a bizarre press conference, where he seemingly took shots directly at Calipari, including the following quotes:

“The desire for more should be met with a sense of gratitude.” – Mitch Barnhart

“Grown-ups are going to have to figure this out and be a little better. Sometimes when you get a little bit of success, you get a little entitled.” – Mitch Barnhart

Barnhart’s response undoubtedly fueled the basketball vs. football narrative and deepened the divide.

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Given Barnhart’s quotes, it should come as no surprise that Barnhart is limiting additional funding for the basketball program.

During a radio show this summer, Calipari talked about his wish for a new practice facility, replacing/upgrading the Joe Craft Center, which was completed in early 2007. Given that this is a 15-year-old facility and has fallen behind other top programs, one could argue that this was a reasonable request.

Calipari even suggested that he was willing to raise money on his own, just as he did in 2012 with the locker rooms. Following through with that, Calipari is reported to have secured pledges of about $30 million in private funding, mostly from his former players in the NBA.

This $30 million tag matches the cost of what it cost to build the Joe Craft Center in 2007, adjusting for inflation that cost would be $43 million today. With that said, that is 70 percent of the money needed if the cost is similar. It is important to note, this source of funding would likely only be available if Calipari is the coach.

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Yet, Barnhart has met Calipari with resistance and, “refuses to let him proceed with planning a facility,” said Tucker. If true, this seems to be an ego move by Barnhart, which is bad for everyone involved.

Finally, one of the biggest things actively hurting Kentucky basketball right now is Barnhart’s refusal to allow and add support staff positions. While the current full-time assistant staff has paid dividends on the recruiting trail, this was the focus when they were hired, excluding Bruiser. As a staff, it is clear that X’s & O’s and building player relationships have taken a step back.

Calipari is aware of this and has asked Barnhart to add an additional support staff position for a general manager, and suggested that ‘offensive coordinator’, and ‘defensive coordinator’ are positions that Calipari would be interested in adding as well. Despite UK’s staff being smaller compared to other top programs, Barnhart has denied this request.

What is worrying is that Tucker is told that, assistant video director Andrew Ortelli, and graduate assistant Riley Welch are doing “most” of the actual scouting work for the team. This is unacceptable and shows why Kentucky has looked ill-prepared so often.

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Yet, the football staff includes three assistants that are paid over $1 million per year (Liam Coen (OC) $1.7 Million, Vince Marrow (Recruiting Coordinator) $1.2 million, Brad White (DC) $1.4 million). This is not to say that they don’t deserve it, but it is clear that Barnhart is giving preferential treatment to the football program.

As quoted earlier in this article from Barnhart, “Grown-ups are going to have to figure this out and be a little better.”

Maybe it is time for Barnhart to take his own advice, or it may be time for him to hang it up.

You can read the entire story on The Athletic here.

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Men's Basketball

Kentucky Basketball Players Say They Think About Winning National Championship “Every Second”

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4 days ago

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November 18, 2024

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Kentucky basketball players celebrate after their big over Duke.
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The expectations at Kentucky are the highest of any school in the country, and there is good reason why. The winningest college program ever. Eight national titles, under five different coaches. Seventeen Final Four appearances. You get it, a lot of success.

Fans want the players to have those same expectations. Despite not having the elite talent or preseason hype of great Kentucky teams past, this year’s team still has their eyes set on doing something “people will remember forever”, winning a national championship.

Asked on social media, if hanging banner #9 was all the players thought about “every second”, Ansley Almonor had a response.

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“We do.”

It takes a lot to win a national championship, including some luck, but this team is certainly going to be loved for their desire to live out their dream of playing at Kentucky and their unselfishness. Those two things can take them a long way this season .

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Men's Basketball

Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart Seemingly Takes Shot at John Calipari, “Anybody Can Recruit”

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6 days ago

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November 16, 2024

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Mitch Barnhart sitting next to basketball coach John Calipari.
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John Calipari and Kentucky Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart had their differences over fifteen years, but success can hide a lot of things. Not that they hated each other, but they each had vastly different personalities. As that success weaned towards the end of Calipari’s tenure, those issues started to be noticed publically.

If you need evidence of that, despite their efforts to dispute it, there is the infamous press conference where Barnhart talked about “entitled” coaches, shortly after Calipari publicly called for a new practice facility. Then, there were multiple times when Calipari expressed that the administration was not on the same page and that he was facing “headwinds”.

That said, Calipari is now at Arkansas, but those differences and some disdain remain. During an interview on the Kentucky Football pregame show, Barnhart seemingly took a shot at Calipari when asked about Mark Pope’s recruiting philosophy and prioritizing fit.

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“I tell people all the time, ‘Anybody can recruit, not everybody can evaluate,’” Barnhart said. “You can recruit. You can be phenomenal at bringing people to your program. But if it does not fit you, it’s really not helpful.”

Of course, Calipari is one of the best, if not the best, recruiters in college basketball history. At times, he prioritized talent and athleticism over fit.

Quite the coincidence.

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Men's Basketball

ESPN’s Jay Williams Gives Message to Kentucky Fans, “You’re Not Going to Like It…”

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7 days ago

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November 15, 2024

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ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Williams gives a message to Kentucky fans after the Wildcats win over Duke. "You won't like it."
ESPN

Back in April, opposing fanbases like Duke, told Kentucky fans to “cope with Pope” following the hire of Mark Pope and the corresponding initial shock. On Tuesday, those same fanbases had to watch as Mark Pope outcoached Jon Scheyer and Duke in the final minutes of the Champion’s Classic to get his first marque win in just his third game at Kentucky.

Of course, shortly after the game, Duke fans began to rationalize the loss by highlighting their team’s youth. While true, it sounded like an echo chamber of what Kentucky fans said for years under John Calipari. One notable example was former Blue Devil Jay Williams.

At halftime, while Duke was leading 46-37, Williams called this year’s Duke team the most talented since the 2001 team that he was a part of at halftime. To his credit, he complimented Kentucky on the comeback victory, specifically on their offense and maturity, but then 36 hours later he posted a message to Kentucky fans on social media.

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“Let me put you on to something,” Williams started. “Whether you like it or not, networks are going to sell Cooper Flagg. He’s going to be the number one pick in the draft. You’re going to talk about whether he won the or whether he lost the game, regardless of the outcome.”

“You’re not going to like it. There should be more kudos to Mark Pope and Kentucky,” Williams continued. “Regardless of whether you won the game or not, they’re still going to sell Cooper Flagg because he is selling the sport. Sorry.”

William’s statement is true. That said, it comes off as ‘sour grapes’ about losing. Cooper Flagg is a great talent and will likely be the first pick in the NBA Draft, but most Kentucky fans would say they would much rather have the win than the marketing.

Futhermore, Kentucky and its ‘brand’ has raised the level of multiple players and coaches, and will continue to do so. A deeper impact than Cooper Flagg will have on Duke in just one season.

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