Former A&M guard Brian Barone is taking SIU Edwardsville dancing

Former Texas A&M guard Brian Barone is the head coach at SIU Edwardsville, and after winning the OVC Tournament last week, his Cougars are headed to the NCAA Tournament. Barone joined TexAgs Live to discuss his path to the Big Dance, playing in Aggieland and more.

Key notes from Brian Barone interview

• It's been great. I have been at SIU Edwardsville for eight years and the head coach for six. You go through a lot. There is a lot of heavy lifting. Having the opportunity to do this, it has been a whirlwind. It's awesome.
   
• We are all sick as coaches because you can never be totally happy. One of the biggest things with this team is we expected to have the opportunity to be here. I really thought we could make a run. A lot of things had to happen to make the NCAA Tournament, and they happened. Now, is there an opportunity to go out and play with a group of guys that won 22 games this year? They know if they lose, that is your last time ever with this particular group. We are going through preparation. We are preparing business as usual but having a heck of a time doing it.
  

• I hadn't thought about the scissors thing. You have different mantras each year. The scissors have always been in the locker room. I had gotten the job. A couple of days later, I asked one of our managers to go get the nicest pair of scissors you can get and a frame. He said, "A nice pair of scissors?" I said, "I don't know, like silvery or something that looks cool." We put them in a frame and put them above the locker room door. You would see them every day if you looked up. The first few years, you didn't notice it. We didn't talk about it. This program has never won more than 11 games, ever, in Division I. Every year, we got a little better. The scissors started traveling with us in my bag to the conference tournament, just in case. With about 1:30 left in the championship game, I looked at our manager and said, “Go back there and get the scissors.” Postgame, he walked by with the frame, and I wanted to make sure we didn't misplace them after six years.
   
• I always knew I wanted to be part of a team. My concept of the team was eventually being a coach. It evolved. After Marquette, I got a junior college job. My dad always said, "If you coach, go to junior college the first few years because the life I have given you is not the life of how to break into it.” Reality set it real quick. You fall in love with it. There's a lot of ups and downs, but it's awesome.
   
• I went to A&M Consolidated High School. College Station is home. It was great. It was a special place for me.
   
• We loved it at Consol. My brother played there. It was always different because we were a midwest family. From that perspective, the job may not have been the best fit when it was all said and done. I was able to be surrounded by really good coaches. Mike Terral was a big-time coach at Consol.
   
• The last time I was in College Station, I was looking for Cafe Eccell to get a strawberry tart. The Wings ‘N More I always went to was in a different location. It's nuts how much it has grown.
   
• Buzz Williams has done a great job. He and I were together at Marquette for about nine to 10 months. He hired me at Marquette, and I was on his staff for about two weeks. I went with Tom Crean to Indiana.
   
• Williams and I had a plan to play each other this year. I had never been to Reed Arena. They went to the Players Era Tournament, and some things fell through. He has done a great job. They have an identity and a culture. We have talked about playing next year.
   
• Crean walked through the lobby, and we talked for about 20 minutes the day of the semifinal game. He said he would be calling the championship. With about two minutes left, I looked across the court, and I was like, “You have to be kidding me. My college coach and the guy who hired me several times is calling my championship game to go to the NCAA Tournament.” It was special.