May 31, 2008
By David Scott
It was almost 20 years ago but the memory of his first international travel experience still stays with UTEP Head Coach Tony Barbee. It was 1990 and the Jones Cup was being contested in Taiwan and a group of Atlantic 10 all-stars were part of a team coached by then-St. Joseph's coach John Griffin (and assisted by UMass's John Calipari).
"There was no calling back home on that trip, no internet to use Facebook," remembered Barbee. "You were doing the experience a little bit differently and we were out walking around sightseeing and taking it all in maybe a little more. It was a little different than this trip, but the end result is the same thing: memories to last a lifetime."
Now, 18 years later, Barbee is still creating memories, this time as an assistant to Calipari, and accompanying two of his Miners in sophomores-to-be Claude Britten and Julyan Stone on this journey to China.
"It's a heck of an opportunity for these kids and they don't realize it at all right now - same way I didn't realize it in 1990," said Barbee, who enters his third year at UTEP after a run as Calipari's assistant at Memphis. "When you're that age, the only thing you ever know and want to be part of is your country. But this is an experience of a lifetime that they'll look back upon 20 years down the road the same way I now look back on Taiwan. Trips like these make you appreciate everything you have and help you to understand that the world is much bigger than just the part that you live in."
Barbee's post-college playing career would eventually take him to Europe and South America, but that trip between his freshman and sophomore seasons at UMass was the launch of his basketball voyage that has now wound its way to China.
"I kind of knew what to expect on this trip as far as the travel goes," said Barbee. "The best part for me, besides being with my guys and the whole team, has been the games. The competition.You know, this (C-USA All Star team) has been a bit more competitive than I thought would we be. We didn't have that much time to prepare.
"What you find out is if you have a bunch of really talented players that are skilled and unselfish, it makes the games easier," he said.
In the long run, it may also make recruiting a bit easier for Barbee and his C-USA coaching peers.
"It's something else that you can sell that might give you an advantage," said Barbee. "The opportunity to take kids on these kind of experiences is something that I think all of us embrace. You get a chance to promote your conference, your school and your program on levels that not everyone can do. You are able provide the players an experience that will be stgay with them for the rest of their lives."
And who knows, maybe Britten or Stone will be joining Barbee as an assistant on another incredible journey in 20 years time.
"They might not fully comprehend it right now," Barbee said. "But they will. I know they will."
