Victims of Their Own Success: The Revolving Door that is Texas Basketball

Rick Barnes is hardly on the hot seat in Austin, but questions about whether or not he can ever take the Horns all the way to the promise land are beginning to arise after Texas' steep downfall from the being number one in the country to a first round exit in the NCAA Tournament.

I for one am a Rick Barnes fan.  He has taken my hometown team to levels that nobody has dreamed they could reach, thanks in part to Deloss Dodds, the UT Athletic Director that has spearheaded the reformation of the University of Texas Athletic Department, who won titles in football and baseball in the last ten years, and have come painfully close to bringing home trophies in volleyball and basketball as well.

Barnes has turned the UT hoops program into an NBA factory.  The Longhorns had six alumnus in the 2010 NBA Playoffs, Daniel Gibson, LaMarcus Aldridge, Kevin Durant, Maurice Evans, Royal Ivey and DJ Augustin; all of which have saw minutes in their series'.

Texas seems to be set to add three more names to that list this season with the departures of Third Team All-American Damion James, Dexter Pittman, and freshman Avery Bradley. 

This continues the trend of players leaving the 40 Acres well before the eligibility expires.  Three of the five players mentioned above opted for the NBA Draft before they even had to declare an academic major by going pro after their sophomore year.  As did TJ Ford.  Chris Mihm and PJ Tucker moved on after their junior seasons.  It seems the Texas' success in recruiting has evolved into their doom when it comes to reaching the ultimate goal of winning a championship.

Veteran teams win titles; Duke took home the crown this year with a starting line-up comprised of three seniors and two juniors.  North Carolina in 2009 had a lineup of similar experience, three juniors and two seniors.  Tyler Hansbrough could have left for the NBA after his sophomore season, but he knew the money wasn't going anywhere and his primary goal was to win a national championship. 

So it begs the question is Barnes recruiting players who are there for the exposure and for the benefit of themselves or for competitive purpose of being the best team in the country and the last team standing in April?