VCU Ram Report

MAN AT THE TOP Of all the personali es on the 1984-85 team - Duncan's mayoral persona, Brown's colorful cadence, Hobbs' avuncular charm or Tubby Smith's calming influence – none was more outsized than Barne . At 35, Barne took the reigns of the VCU program from Dana Kirk in 1979. It wasn't long before his mop-top haircut and fiery sideline demeanor replaced Kirk's leisure suits as VCU trademarks. But mostly, people no ced all the winning. Un- der Barne , VCU became the "Runnin' Rams" and won 132 games during his six seasons. His .733 winning percentage was unchallenged for more than 20 years, and Smart (three) is the only other VCU coach to lead the Rams to mul ple NCAA bids. In his debut season, Barne guided the Rams to a Sun Belt Championship and the school's first NCAA Tournament bid and victory. When he le , it took decades for the program to recover. From 1986-2003, VCU appeared in the NCAA Tournament just once. But way he steered VCU through its halcyon days could be considered a bit unconven onal. Before every game, he threw up. It was so com- mon it became understood as an element of VCU's pregame rou ne. Barne was a discipli- narian, and when a player deviated from the rules, it usually meant he'd be running – a lot. Brown fondly recalls prac ces he spent running the steep stands at the Richmond Coliseum, coun ng the number of steps along the way. S nnie laughs as he summons a memory from a game against Louisville that season. Although he did not play in the game, S nnie says Barne verbally dressed him down a erwards for dunk- ing during warm-ups, which inspired his team- mates to follow suit and, according to Barne , sapped them of their legs down the stretch. "I called my mom and said, 'this guy was crazy,'" S nnie joked. Andy Black recalled a similar experience, where Barne admonished him for "trying too hard to block Michael Brown's shot during warm-ups". Perhaps knowing that his volcanic style was a lot for players to handle, he says assistants like Tubby Smith, Kevin Eastman and Hobbs were charged with smoothing out the rough patches. "We assistants had to go around and pat guys on the back and tell them, 'listen to what he says and not how he says it,'" says Hobbs. Barne acknowledges his over-the-top per- sonality, but believes at least part of it was necessary. "I don't think the public ever understood it," he said. "I think some people got it a er I le for a few years…you had to be a tough S.O.B. to coach at VCU in every aspect, from the places you had to recruit, to where you had to get players out of. They came from tough places." When they were in college, Barne may have seemed like a drill sergeant, but years later, many players credit him with shaping their lives. "At the end of the day, he made me the man I am today," says Brown. "He taught me more than basketball. He taught me all about life." "I tell you what, Coach made me grow up," add- ed S nnie. "That freshman year, I was a teenage boy. At the end of the year I was a young adult. You had to understand the mental games he would give you, and you had to understand why

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