Rick Barnes appears to have the makeup to be college basketball’s Dick Vermeill.
That’s not a slight.
At the 1:50 mark in the video below, Barnes gets choked up when he brings up how he had a chance to see Dave Gavitt again. Gavitt was at the Texas-UConn game and is the man who started the Big East in 1979. He is also one of Barnes’ primary mentors. When he was interviewed in the hallway afterward, Barnes said, with every major decision in college basketball he’s ever made, Gavitt was the last person he called before he came to a verdict. He also said the man was like a father to him. Barnes’ connection to Gavitt comes from his days at Providence, where he got his first major head coaching job.
In the video below, Barnes admits he’d take a loss just to get the chance to see the 73-year-old Dave Gavitt whenever he can.
My story on what the loss means for Texas and the win means for UConn will be up around noon, with video of Avery Bradley and Damion James included.
