Another SEC Basketball Coach Walks Out on Press Conference

Published on 6-Mar-2014 by Stacey Mickles

Basketball - NCAA Mens    NCAA Basketball Daily Review

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Another SEC Basketball Coach Walks Out on Press Conference

Walking out of your own press conference seems to be the norm these days in the SEC.

Could it be due to so many conference basketball coaches are fighting for their professional lives?

First, it was Kentucky head coach John Calipari, who cut things short last Saturday when his Wildcats suffered a bad loss at South Carolina.

Now, it's Auburn basketball coach Tony Barbee. The Tigers had just gotten trounced by Tennessee, 82-54, and afterward, Barbee was asked about his future down on the Plains.

Well, apparently, that was the wrong question to ask. Barbee provided a response, stood up, and then found the closest exit. Up until then, everything seemed vanilla, but zingers can change the tone in a hurry:

Yeah, they fought so hard to only lose by 28 points. If I'm Tony Barbree, I'd be worried too. He was supposed to be the savior of  Auburn basketball, but to date, he's been nothing but a flop. 

Barbee has never taken any of his teams to the post-season; not even to the NIT, which doesn't bold well for his future.

If it wasn't for apathy by Auburn fans and, quite frankly, the success of Gus Malzahn, Barbee would have been gone already.

But Barbee isn't alone. Alabama basketball coach Anthony Grant is struggling this season, too, although he's had more success than Barbee.

With former Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl floating out there, you wonder which school is about to pull the trigger and dump its head coach.

If I was a betting person, I'd say that would be Auburn.