Brian Barone played for the Marquette Golden Eagles from 1998 to 2001. He then transitioned to coaching and even got involved with Wisconsin-based teams after his college basketball career.
He did not become one of those legendary Marquette players but his love for Marquette and basketball remained.
He was once an assistant with the Green Bay Phoenix and then became the coordinator of basketball operations and video coordinator at Marquette under head coach Tom Crean.
Safe to say that all those years prepared him for where he is now as he just became one of the best feel good stories of the 2024-2025 season.
Barone just led the SIU Edwardsville Cougars men’s basketball to their first ever NCAA tournament as a Division I school.
He started there in 2017 as an assistant to former Marquette teammate Jon Harris. He had the full control by 2019 and grabbed headlines when he put a pair of scissors in a frame to symbolize his mission to bring cougars basketball glory.
That moment finally happened.
Marquette Golden Eagles legacy in full display through Brian Barone
SIU became the first team in Ohio Valley to punch a ticket to the NCAA tournament this season with a 13-7 record and Barone wasted on time to take out the scissors that served as his motivation.
Appearing in ESPN during the coverage of their win against Southeast Missouri, Barone passionately recalled the time he was starting as a head coach and all the struggle they went through as a team.
He then talked about the scissors which was later on used in the ceremonial cutting of the net meant to wrap up their season.
“I’m about to go get a pair of scissors that I hung up six years ago above our locker room door,” Barone told the ESPN broadcast after the win. “We did that six years ago. It’s been hanging above our locker room door. People didn’t think we were going to be able to do it.”
“I remember when I first took over, we talked about building a program that could compete at the highest level.
This is the first time that Cougars get to play in the NCAA tourney but Barone is not stopping there. He said his team is meant to come for more.
“We’re not just happy to be here; we’re here to compete,” he said.
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