< PreviousTony Barbee is entering his seventh sea- son with the Kentucky men’s basketball program and his first as the associate to the head coach. He served the previous five seasons as an assistant coach and was the special assistant to the head coach in his first season at UK, in 2014-15. Now as an associate to the head coach, Barbee will play a central part in helping head coach John Calipari run the program. Barbee, who played a key role in Kentucky's game management and Xs and Os as an as- sistant, will take on increased responsibility in game planning, scouting opponents, and helping Calipari formulate the team’s ap- proach in practices and in games. In the six seasons Barbee has been on staff, the Wildcats have won four South- eastern Conference regular-season cham- pionships and four SEC Tournament titles. On the road recruiting in his five seasons as an assistant, he helped secure a top-three recruiting class in every season, including the No. 1 classes in 2016, 2017 and 2020, as designated by the Recruiting Services Consensus Index. During the 2014-15 season, Barbee served as the special assistant to head coach John Calipari, where he assisted Calipari in a multitude of roles, includ- ing game-plan preparation, practice plans and administrative duties within everyday basketball operations. With Barbee’s help the Wildcats enjoyed one of the most sto- ried seasons in program history, becoming the first team in NCAA history to begin a season 38-0 while claiming the SEC reg- ular-season and tournament crowns, ad- vancing to the program’s fourth Final Four in five seasons, and helping six players go in the NBA Draft. In his five seasons as an assistant coach, UK went to the NCAA Tournament in every season (the 2020 tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic) and sent a combined 13 players to the NBA Draft with 10 first-round picks and eight lottery selections. He has and will continue to play the role as UK's defensive specialist and has solidified Kentucky as one of the best defensive teams in the country on an annual basis. Barbee was previously the head coach at UTEP and at Auburn and has previously served as an assistant coach under Calipari for a total of eight seasons. Barbee played for Calipari at UMass be- fore starting his coaching career as a grad- uate assistant on the Massachusetts staff in 1995-96. The Minutemen advanced to the NCAA Final Four in Barbee’s first season as a member of the coaching staff. He served as an assistant coach for two seasons at UMass before taking an assistant coaching position at Wyoming. Barbee re- joined Calipari as an assistant at Memphis for six seasons from 2001-06. The Tigers earned a 20-win season in each of his six years on staff. The Tigers claimed a pair of Conference USA titles and advanced to the NCAA Tournament three times during his tenure, including an Elite Eight run in his final season. During Barbee’s tenure at Memphis, the Tigers won 148 games, an average of near- ly 25 victories per season. Memphis produced top-10 recruiting classes in each of Barbee’s six years, in- cluding the 2001 class that was ranked No. 1 in the country. Barbee was hired as UTEP’s head coach in 2006. During his four-year tenure at the helm of the Miners program, he averaged 20.5 wins per seasons and exceeded his win total from year to year. His most pro- lific season at UTEP was his last in which he led the Miners to a 26-7 overall record, a C-USA regular-season title and an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2009-10. He became Auburn’s head coach prior to the start of the 2010-11 season. He spent four seasons as the head coach of the Ti- gers and has amassed an overall 131-127 record as a head coach. Prior to Auburn, Barbee had advanced to postseason play in 18 of his 19 seasons as a head coach, assistant coach and player. As a player, Barbee helped lead the Minutemen to a pair of Atlantic 10 cham- pionships and two NCAA Tournaments, in- cluding the Sweet 16 in 1992. UMass went 91-39 during his four-year career. Barbee still ranks among the school’s all-time leaders in numerous statistical categories, including scoring with 1,643 points. He was a Second Team All-Atlantic 10 player in 1991 and 1993 and All-Atlan- tic 10 Freshman Team selection in 1990. The Indianapolis native played pro- fessionally in Spain and France after his playing career at UMass. He earned his bachelor of arts in sports management from UMass in 1993, with a minor in Afri- can-American studies. He and his wife, Holly, have a daugh- ter, Hayden Alexandra, and a son, Andrew Marsh. Tony Barbee n Associate to the Head Coach (first season) n Seventh season overall at UK 58 @KentuckyMBBFree Live Streaming Audio for all Football and Men’s Basketball games Join UK Fan Community with real-time Twitter, Instagram & Facebook conversations Home and Away location enabled venue speci c interactive maps Win Memorable VIP fan experiences at UK Athletics events Proud Partner Proud Partner Proud Partner of UK Athleticsof UK Athleticsof UK Athleticsof UK Athleticsof UK Athleticsof UK AthleticsJames “Bruiser” Flint, a former John Cali- pari assistant with more than 30 years of coaching experience at the head coach and assistant levels, joined the staff as an assis- tant coach in August of 2020. A former member of Calipari’s staff at UMass for seven seasons, Flint served the last three seasons at Indiana under Archie Miller. He has 20 years of experience as a Division I head coach at Drexel (2002-16) and UMass (1996-01). With a blue-collar background and an infectious personality, Flint is well known in the college basketball fraternity for his success in both recruiting and developing players. His honest, engaging approach has been the consistent variable behind 20 suc- cessful seasons as a Division I head coach at Drexel (2001-02 to 2015-16) and UMass (1996-97 to 2000-01), plus several promi- nent assistant coaching stops, including sev- en seasons at UMass under Calipari. Flint won 331 games as a head coach during his 20 seasons at the helm at UMass and Drexel. Four times he was named Colo- nial Athletic Association Coach of the Year (2002, 2004, 2009 and 2012) and National Association of Basketball Coaches District Coach of the Year (1998, 2007, 2009 and 2012). Flint was a member of Calipari’s staff at UMass from 1989-90 through the 1995-96 season, helping build a national program in Amherst, Massachusetts, after 11 straight losing seasons. With Calipari and Flint on staff, the Minutemen made five NCAA Tour- nament appearances, including the 1996 Final Four run, to go along with five Atlantic 10 regular-season and five A-10 Tournament titles. Flint played a key role in the develop- ment of Marcus Camby, who won the John R. Wooden Award and the Naismith Trophy as the national player of the year in 1996. Camby was drafted No. 2 overall in the NBA Draft that spring. After Calipari departed for the NBA, Flint took over the program for five seasons, includ- ing NCAA Tournament berths in the first two seasons. He also posted the best record of any first-year coach UMass in school history. Following his stint in Amherst, Flint took the reins at Drexel, where he racked up more victories (245) than any other coach in school history over his 15 seasons. With stingy defenses and a culture of toughness, Flint set new standards at Drexel, leading the Dragons to 20 or more wins three times while recording at least 10 CAA wins in nine seasons. During his tenure, Drexel featured the CAA Defensive Player of the Year on four occasions, 23 All-CAA selections, 12 mem- bers of the conference’s All-Defensive Team, six players named to the league’s All-Rookie Team and two CAA Rookies of the Year. Flint’s Dragons had a record-breaking season in 2011-12. His squad set a school record with 29 wins and won the CAA reg- ular-season title, going 16-2. The Dragons won a program-best 19 straight games and advanced to the CAA title game for the sec- ond time ever. His teams were an unfriendly foe for some of the nation’s top teams. In 2010-11, Drexel stunned No. 20 Louisville, handing the Cardinals their first-ever loss in the new KFC Yum! Center. The Dragons also defeat- ed NCAA teams Old Dominion and VCU. In 2006-07, on its way to a 23-9 overall re- cord, Drexel won 13 road games (tied for most in Division I). The Dragons won at Syracuse, Villanova and Creighton. Flint be- came the first coach in Drexel history ever to beat three Philadelphia Big 5 teams in one season. In his latest stop, at Indiana as an assis- tant, Flint was part of a staff that produced the No. 11 recruiting class nationally in 2018 and 2020 (according to ESPN’s rank- ings), including signing Indiana Mr. Basket- ball winners Romeo Langford (2018) and Trayce Jackson-Davis (2019). Langford and Jackson-Davis were named McDonald’s All-Americans and Langford was a lottery pick by the Boston Celtics. In 2019-20, Indiana finished 20-12 and was poised to return to the NCAA Tourna- ment before the COVID-19 Pandemic hit. The Hoosiers also finished with a winning record against nationally ranked teams with five victories, tied for seventh most in the country. The team also posted a 3.398 grade point average in the spring semester and a perfect 1.000 score on the NCAA's Academ- ic Progress Rate for 2018-19. Flint has enjoyed three coaching stints with USA Basketball, serving as an assistant in 2007 for the USA U-19 National Team in Serbia, an assistant in 2005 for the USA U-21 World Championship Team that went 7-1 in Argentina and first as a court coach prior to the Global Games. He began his coaching career as an as- sistant coach at Coppin State (1988-89). A 1987 Saint Joseph’s graduate, Flint was a four-year letterwinner with the Hawks. He earned All-Atlantic 10 honors as a senior and led the Hawks to the 1986 A-10 cham- pionship and a berth in the NCAA Tourna- ment as a junior. He was inducted into the Saint Joseph’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998. Flint has a daughter, Jada. James “Bruiser” Flint n Assistant Coach (first season) n First season overall at UK 60 @KentuckyMBB JMI | Basketball Yearbook Ad 2020.indd 2JMI | Basketball Yearbook Ad 2020.indd 211/13/20 9:34 AM11/13/20 9:34 AMJoel Justus completed his fourth season as an assistant coach in 2019-20 after serv- ing two seasons on staff, first as the director of analytics and then as the special assistant to the head coach. In helping Kentucky to another South- eastern Conference regular-season cham- pionship in 2020 and playing a key part in what many are calling the best recruiting class in the country in 2020, Justus has so- lidified himself as one of the top young as- sistants in the country. The Athletic tabbed Justus one of the top 40 people in college basketball under 40 and ESPN named him one of the nation's top 40 coaches less than 40 years old in 2020. Justus joined the staff for the historic 2014-15 season as the director of analytics. Using Justus’ analytics, Kentucky’s players bought in to a two-platoon system that helped the Wildcats become one of the most efficient teams in the country, includ- ing the most dominant defensive team in recent history, as UK became the first team in college basketball history to start a sea- son 38-0. Justus analyzed player and team perfor- mance, utilizing various stats and data to help develop efficient strategies through video. He developed tools that streamlined the decision-making process of the coach- ing staff using advanced statistical modeling and analysis. He also analyzed large data sets to aid the coaching staff’s scouting reports as well as postgame analysis. He assisted in day- to-day operations of the program, which included coordinating with NBA personnel while assisting in many areas of basketball operations. After successfully integrating analytics into the daily culture of the program, he was elevated to special assistant to the head coach for the 2015-16 season. With his pre- vious responsibilities remaining an active part of his duties, Justus’ role expanded to include scouting future opponents, provid- ing strategies to help advance the program and assisting with special projects assigned by John Calipari. In his first season as an assistant coach, Kentucky won both the SEC regular-sea- son and tournament championships while advancing to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. He played a key part in secur- ing what the Recruiting Services Consensus Index calculates as the best recruiting class ever in 2017 and the No. 1 class in 2020. In 2017-18, he was instrumental in the development of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who developed from a rather overlooked piece of UK’s 2017 signing class into the SEC Tournament's most valuable player as UK won its fourth-straight tournament championship. During the 2018-19 season, as Ken- tucky advanced to another Elite Eight, Jus- tus played a key part in the development of SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year Ashton Hagans. He also worked closely with NBA first-round picks Keldon Johnson and Tyler Herro. Justus played a similar role with 2020 SEC Player of this Year Immanuel Quick- ley and projected lottery pick Tyrese Max- ey this past season. Justus came to UK after serving as the head coach at Davidson Day High School in Davidson, North Carolina. In both years at the helm, he guided the Patriots to the Elite Eight in the state tournament. Prior to his time at Davidson Day, Justus served as the head boys’ basketball coach at Woodberry Forest School in Woodberry, Virginia, from 2008-12. During his time at Woodberry Forest, he guided his team to the Virginia Prep League regular-season cham- pionship in 2010 while advancing to the Virginia Prep League championship game in consecutive years, a first in more than two decades. Justus has spent time in college basket- ball as an assistant coach at Elon University from 2004-08, where he helped guide the Phoenix to a Northern Division title in 2006 and the Southern Conference championship game in 2008. A 2004 graduate of UNC Wilmington, Jus- tus helped the Seahawks as a student-athlete capture two Colonial Athletic Association titles, make three postseason appearances (NIT in 2001 and NCAA in 2002 and 2003) and was team captain his senior season. Justus has a son, Deacon Archer Justus, 6. Joel Justus n Assistant Coach (fifth season) n Seventh season overall at UK 62 @KentuckyMBBA former McDonald’s High School All American and now a highly-respected coach, Jai Lucas joined the Kentucky men’s basketball staff as a recruiting coordinator in August of 2020 and was quickly transitioned into a full-time assistant coaching role soon thereafter. As an assistant, Lucas has been tasked with taking a lead role in Kentucky's recruit- ing efforts while filling the traditional on- court roles of an assistant, including helping with game and practice preparation and playing a key role in player development through practice and individual workouts. Additionally, as recruiting coordinator, he manages official and unofficial visits and is responsible for the recruiting strategy for the program. Lucas spent the last seven seasons at his alma mater on the University of Texas’ coaching staff. A native of Houston, Lucas began his career as a special assistant of the basketball program under Rick Barnes for two seasons. Upon Shaka Smart’s hiring, Lucas moved into the director of basketball operations role for a year before being ele- vated to an assistant coach for the 2016-17 season. Lucas is known in basketball circles for his high-level player development and a penchant for formulating strong relation- ships. In his first season as an assistant, he aid- ed in the growth of freshman Jarrett Allen, who earned All-Big 12 Conference honors and was selected No. 22 overall by the Brooklyn Nets in the 2017 NBA Draft. Mohamed Bamba was an honorable mention All-America selection and was a fi- nalist for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year award in 2017-18. He was picked No. 6 overall by the Orlando Magic and was the eighth lottery pick in school history. In 2018-19, with Lucas playing another key role, Jaxon Hayes was named the Big 12’s Freshman of the Year. He was selected eighth overall by the Atlanta Hawks. With Hayes’ draft selection, Texas joined Ken- tucky and Duke as the only programs with a lottery pick in back-to-back drafts. Lucas was an integral part in helping Texas land three top-20 classes during his tenure as an assistant coach. The Longhorns hauled in the No. 6 (2017), No. 8 (2018) and the No. 17 (2019) classes (according to 247Sports) with Lucas among the team’s full-time assistants on the recruiting cycle. The sixth-ranked class in 2017 was high- lighted by the signing of Bamba, who was rated as the No. 3 player in the class. Prior to entering the coaching ranks, Lucas played three seasons of profession- al basketball. He spent two seasons in the NBA D-League and one year overseas in Latvia with BK Valmiera in the Baltic Bas- ketball League. A two-year letterwinner for the Long- horns, Lucas was a part of a pair of NCAA Tournament teams. He earned his bache- lor’s degree in corporate communication in 2011. He began his collegiate career at the University of Florida, where he was an All-Southeastern Conference Freshman Team honoree after helping the Gators to a 24-12 record. Lucas was a McDonald’s All American, a Jordan Brand Classic selection and a Pa- rade All-America Second Team selection as a senior. He was a three-year starter and a three-time District 21-5A Player of the Year who led Bellaire High School to three con- secutive district titles. He is married to Kori and the couple has one son, Jaxin. @UKSportsNetwork 63 Jai Lucas n Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator (first season) n First season overall at UKJohn Robic completed his fourth sea- son with the Kentucky basketball program as the special assistant to the head coach in 2019-20 and is a long- time associate of UK head coach John Calipari, including the first seven sea- sons at Kentucky as an assistant coach. Robic has been Calipari’s right-hand man throughout their careers. In his cur- rent role, Robic scouts future opponents, helps Calipari with game plans, breaks down film with Calipari, and carries out special projects and assignments from the head coach. Beginning with their first season to- gether at UMass in 1988-89, where Ro- bic was an assistant under Calipari, the two have been together for 23 seasons. It seems as if the Calipari-Robic duo is a proven combination for thrilling basket- ball seasons. Similar to those magical years he assisted at UMass in the 1990s, Robic helped lead Memphis to the program’s most storied era in school history in four seasons with the Tigers (2006-09), as well as helping return Kentucky back among the nation’s elite since his arrival in Lexington. Robic helped the Wildcats post a 35-3 mark in his inaugural season at Kentucky. The Cats made an appearance in the 2010 Elite Eight while claiming Southeastern Conference regular-season and tournament championships along the way. During his third season at UK, the Wild- cats set an NCAA record with 38 victories en route to the program’s eighth national championship. Anthony Davis was tabbed the national player of the year by several outlets and went on to become the second No. 1 overall NBA Draft pick in three sea- sons for UK. Kentucky continued to make history when Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was chosen No. 2 overall to become the first teammates to go 1-2 in Draft history. The duo led a record-breaking six selections in the same draft year. Robic was instrumental in the game prep and scouting for the 2014 trek to the na- tional championship game, a run that some national pundits called one of the greatest NCAA Tournament runs of all time. Seeded No. 8 in a region analysts dubbed “the re- gion of doom,” UK knocked off previously undefeated and top-seeded Wichita State, downed defending national champion and archrival Louisville, and defeated defending national runner-up and Big 10 champion Michigan before edging Wisconsin in the Final Four. UK became the first team ever to knock off three of the previous season’s Final Four teams. History was once again the story during the 2014-15 season as the Wildcats won a record 38 games to start the season, reach- ing yet another Final Four while sending six players to the NBA Draft, including the top overall pick for the third time in six seasons. In his 11 seasons at Kentucky, the Wildcats have won six SEC regular-season and six SEC Tournament championships with 35 players earning selection in the NBA Draft, including 26 in the first round, the most of any school during that time period. He helped UK make history when five Wildcats were drafted in the first round of the 2010 NBA Draft. His last four years at Memphis, the Tigers won an NCAA record 137 games (137-14 record) while advancing to the 2006 and 2007 NCAA Elite Eights, the 2008 NCAA title game, and sweeping the 2006-09 Con- ference USA regular-season and tournament crowns. Memphis spent each week of the last four years in the national polls. In 2007-08, Robic was a part of the Ti- gers’ “Dream Season,” which lasted through the NCAA championship game. Mem- phis set an NCAA record for victories with 38 wins (38-2 mark) and held down the No. 1 spot in both national polls for a school-record five straight weeks during the season. Before 2005-06, Robic served as the head coach at Youngstown State from 1999-2005. Prior to its move to the Horizon League, Youngstown State put togeth- er a tremendous year in the Mid-Con in 2000-01, Robic’s second year at the helm. The Penguins posted a 19-11 over- all mark and an 11-5 Mid-Con record. The 19 overall wins were the second most in 16 seasons, and the 11 league victories tied the school record for most conference wins. Before taking over at Youngstown State, Robic served as an assistant for 11 years at UMass for both Calipari and Bruiser Flint. After a 10-18 mark his first season on staff, Robic helped lead the Minutemen to nine consecutive winning campaigns. From 1990-96, the Minutemen aver- aged 26 wins per year and had six straight 20-win seasons, including two 30-victory campaigns. UMass made the NCAA Tourna- ment Sweet 16 in 1992, Elite Eight in 1995 and Final Four in 1996. It was UMass’ first ap- pearance on college basketball’s largest stage. After Calipari moved on to the NBA, Ro- bic remained at UMass and was elevated to the associate head coach post under Flint from 1997-99. During his tenure at UMass, the Minutemen posted a 247-111 overall re- cord (.690 winning percentage) and earned nine postseason tournament bids (seven NCAA, two NIT). A graduate of North Hills High School in Pittsburgh, Robic attended Walsh College in Canton, Ohio, before transferring to Deni- son University in Granville, Ohio, where he earned his bachelor of arts in speech com- munication and physical education in 1986. At Denison, Robic garnered Division III All-America accolades as a senior and was a two-time all-conference performer. He was one of 10 former players to be named to the 10th Anniversary All-Decade Team in the league in 1994. In the fall of 2006, he was inducted into the Denison Athletic Hall of Fame. Robic was inducted into the North Hills High School Hall of Fame in 2004. Robic and his wife, Heidi, have three daughters, the late Hayley Robic, Alli and Sophie. All three are University of Kentucky graduates. 64 @KentuckyMBB John Robic n Special Assistant to the Head Coach/Basketball Ops (fifth season) n 12th season overall at UK2020-21 SEC OPPONENTS66 @KentuckyMBB ALABAMA January 12 n Lexington, Ky. n Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center January 26 n Tuscaloosa, Ala. n Coleman Coliseum Location: Tuscaloosa, Ala. Founded: 1831 Enrollment: 38,342 Colors: Crimson and White Website: rolltide.com 2019-20 Records: 16-15 overall, 8-10 SEC Assistant Coaches: Charlie Henry, Bryan Hodgson, Antoine Pettway Starters Lost (1): Kira Lewis Jr. Starters Returning 4): Hebert Jones, John Petty Jr., Alex Reese, Jaden Shackelford Quick Facts Meet the Alabama Crimson Tide No. Player Ht. Wt. Pos. Cl. Hometown 1 Herbert Jones 6-7 205 F/G Sr. Greensboro, Ala. 2 Jordan Bruner 6-10 225 F Gr. Columbia, S.C. 3 Alex Reese 6-9 245 F Sr. Pelham, Ala. 4 Juwan Gary 6-5 215 F RFr. Columbia, S.C. 5 Jaden Shackelford 6-3 195 G So. Hesperia, Calif. 11 Joshua Primo 6-6 185 G Fr. Toronto, Ontario 12 Darius Miles 6-6 176 F Fr. Washington, D.C. 13 Jahvon Quinerly 6-1 175 G So. Hackensack, N.J. 14 Keon Ellis 6-6 170 G Jr. Fort Myers, Fla. 15 Tyler Barnes 6-8 201 F Sr. Louisville, Ky. 21 Britton Johnson 6-4 183 G Jr. Mountain Brook, Ala. 22 Keon Ambrose-Hylton 6-8 215 F Fr. Toronto, Ontario 23 John Petty Jr. 6-5 184 G Sr. Huntsville, Ala. 24 Jaden Quinerly 6-0 160 G Fr. Hackensack, N.J. 25 Adam Cottrell 6-3 185 G So. Flowery Branch, Ga. 30 Kendall Wall 6-4 188 F Gr. Columbia, S.C. 33 James Rojas 6-8 215 F Jr. Jamestown, N.Y. 35 Alex Tchikou 6-11 210 F Fr. Paris, France 3 Alabama ranked third in the nation in scoring offense and threes made per game. By the Numbers UK leads: 114-38 Last Meeting: Jan. 11, 2020 (Kentucky 76, Alabama 67) Series History Oats’s Crimson Tide made a huge leap of- fensively during his first season. The Tide led the SEC in six offensive statistics last season. Nationally, the new-look offense ranked No. 3 in points and threes made per game. Nate OATS Crimson Tide Head Coach #1 n F/G n Sr. n 6-7 n 205 Hebert JONES Jaden SHACKELFORD #5 n G n So. n 6-3 n 195 6th season (2nd at Alabama) 112-58 (.659 Win Pct.) Crimson Tide Players to WatchPlayer in the Spotlight John PETTY JR. #23 n G n Sr. n 6-5 n 184Next >