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NCAA coaches couch our finest, in Kuwait
A Sunday feel-good story for sports/military fansRick Barnes (University of Texas) recently got back from an extended basketball road trip. During his seven-day trip, he didn't sign a single recruit. He picked up no inside knowledge about next season's team at Kansas or Texas A&M. Just as in March, his team didn't reach the Final Four this time, either. In fact, his team even lost to a team coached by a sportscaster. But the Texas basketball coach landed something far more rewarding than his recent Elite Eight appearance. He gained eye-opening perspective. Barnes was part of an 11-coach group to tour the Persian Gulf in Operation Hardwood II, which was designed to boost the morale of the American military and provide them a temporary respite from the overwhelming anxiety and high-level stress of the Iraq conflict. "They kept thanking us," said Martin Newton, Nike's college basketball sports marketer who made the trip. "But we kept going, 'No, you have it backward.' This was life-changing for these coaches." Barnes and other high-profile NCAA Division I coaches, such as Kentucky's Tubby Smith and Michigan State's Tom Izzo, flew 18 hours to Camp Arifjan in Kuwait to take part in this goodwill mission sponsored by the USO, Armed Forces Entertainment and Nike. Posted by: Sherry 2006-06-11 |
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