The University of Texas has decided to fire men’s basketball coach Rick Barnes.
Texas athletic director Steve Patterson has informed Barnes of the decision. Barnes was supposedly on the hot seat entering the 2013-14 season. However he led Texas to a 24-11 record and an appearance in the NCAA tournament that year, which got him an extension. Barnes got an extension this past offseason through the 2019 season. He is owed $1.75 million for a buyout if fired before April 1 and $1.5 million if fired after April 1, according to USA Today. Barnes would have made $2.55 million this year.
Barnes has been the head coach at Texas for 17 years, since 1998. Before going to Texas he was the head coach at Clemson, Providence, and George Mason. He was an assistant coach at Ohio State, Alabama, George Mason, and Davidson. Barnes had a 402-180 record in his 17 years at Texas, according to ESPN. He is the winningest coach in school history. He won three Big 12 regular season championships, and made it to the NCAA tournament every season except 2013. In 2003 Texas made it to the Final Four and has made two other Elite Eight appearance. During the 2009-10 season Texas was ranked number one in the country for the first time in school history.
There are three coaches that are the top candidates to replace Barnes. Gregg Marshall of Wichita State, Shaka Smart of VCU, and Chris Mack of Xavier are the top candidates. Patterson could hire someone with NBA ties as he has some NBA connections. The job at Texas is considered to be one of the country’s ten best.