Pyramid Tribute: Condition, Rick Barnes (Head Coach - Texas)
Since 1998, Barnes has been calling the shots in Austin, leading
the Longhorns to unprecedented, sustained success during his time
on the sidelines. The all-time winningest coach in University
of Texas history, Barnes has guided his program to 12 consecutive
NCAA Tournament appearances, 11 straight 20-win seasons and five
'Sweet 16' trips in the last nine years.
For Barnes, hard work and dedication have paved the way for team
success at each of his stops. Whether at George Mason
(1987-88) and Providence (1988-94), or in his four seasons at
Clemson where Barnes led the Tigers to three-straight NCAA
Tournament berths and a No. 2 national ranking during the 1996-97
season, he has dramatically improved each program which he's been
tasked to lead.
Well respected throughout the college basketball nation, Barnes was
honored as the 2009 recipient of the John Wooden Legends of
Coaching Award.
__________________
I became aware of Coach Wooden's "Pyramid of Success" as a
high school basketball player. Like most coaches, I refer to it
often. We all are constantly looking at those who have been
successful and seeing what worked for them. Obviously, Coach
Wooden's success speaks for itself. I am honored to share my
thoughts on the block of "Condition" in memory of Coach
Wooden.
I first had the opportunity to meet Coach Wooden at the Wooden
Award presentation in 2003, when our point guard T.J. Ford won the
prestigious honor. Bill Johnson, who played for our staff at George
Mason, was a close family friend of Coach Wooden. Over the last
seven years through Bill's relationship with the family, I have
been able to visit with Coach several times. On one of my visits, I
was able to bring my son, Nick, along with me to dinner with Coach,
his daughter Nan, and Bill. That was a very special evening
for Nick and I.
In spending time with Coach Wooden, one topic we discussed was
his organization of practice. He always started practice by
utilizing conditioning drills and emphasizing the fundamentals of
the game. Coach stressed the importance of wanting to be the best
conditioned team in the country. By starting practice with basic
drills that emphasized fundamentals, he also believed those
fundamental habits developed in the
practice drills would carry over to his team's play in games.
In reality, he made his team tougher, both physically and mentally,
by 'conditioning' their minds and bodies through the way he ran
practice every day. At Texas, we always have our strength and
conditioning coach, Todd Wright, begin practice with various
conditioning drills to warm the body. And we usually follow that
with a drill that emphasizes some fundamentals.
I was fortunate through Bill to receive a videotape recording
of one of Coach's practices from back in the late 1960s. I shared
the videotape with Todd Wright to get his perspective and to see if
our staff could use anything that we picked up from the tape. I'll
never forget Todd's reaction to viewing the tape. He simply
laughed and said, 'Wow. Coach Wooden was so far ahead of his time
in what he was doing from a conditioning
perspective.'
When I apply the term 'Condition' to individual players who our
staff here at Texas has had the pleasure of working with, I think
of Royal Ivey, Kevin Durant and D.J. Augustin. Each of them, in
their own ways, has proven that just as Coach Wooden said, "Ability
may get you to the top, but character keeps you there - mental,
moral and physical."
Although T.J. Ford deservedly drew so much attention and praise
for his role in our team's run to the 2003 Final Four, T.J. and
every member of that team would tell you the true leader and 'glue'
to that special team was Royal Ivey. He pushed himself past the
limits that others had set for him, and he still continues to do
that today. Royal recently completed his sixth season in the NBA,
not bad for a player who was the fifth option on his high school
team.
Kevin Durant is a rare individual. Despite his obvious
natural talents, he remains a player who prefers the grind of
multiple daily workouts that involve repetitive drills. He has a
unique mental focus that emphasizes team success over individual
achievements, and he will always be one of the all-time best
teammates to ever wear the Texas uniform.
D.J. Augustin and his family lost everything they had in
Hurricane Katrina. Forced to evacuate their home in New Orleans and
with nothing to return to after the storm hit, they relocated to
Houston prior to his senior year in high school and simply started
again. D.J. transformed his body physically upon arriving at Texas.
Then he not only became the Bob Cousy Award winner as the best
point guard in the country, he also earned first-team Academic
All-America honors in his sophomore year.
All three individuals have never wavered from their core
values. They were all family-first people who conditioned
themselves to be successful - mentally, morally and physically -
long before they arrived at The University of Texas. And they have
not changed as they have gone on to success on the court in the NBA
and more importantly, in life.
- Rick Barnes
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Courtesy of University of Texas
Athletics Photography
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