Sept. 3, 2008

Kenton Paulino
On how long he has wanted to coach: I’ve been thinking about it for a while now, I think since my junior year. That’s when I really began going through my mind about wanting to get into coaching and try to stay around basketball as much as I can.

On why he wanted to begin his coaching career at Texas: Since being in Austin and having the opportunity to play for The University of Texas, it’s a place that I’ve grown to love. Just to have the opportunity to be a part of the coaching staff means a lot to me. When I came here at 18 years old, I’ve been around UT for six years now, so it’s something that I wanted to continue to do and be a part of.

On if it was tough to leave his playing career with the Austin Toros: I wouldn’t say it was tough because when an opportunity comes up like this, especially at a place like this, you really don’t want to pass that up. I had a few years left in me to be able to play basketball, but as far as longevity I know this would be the best way to stay around the game.

On how he thinks he can help the players: I think I could help a lot. My senior year here I was the captain. I think I’m going to play that role, not as a player on the court, but somebody off the court they could come to and talk to because the situations most of these players have been in, I’ve been in. I’ve been that guy who didn’t play much to the guy that played many minutes, so I know every situation in that locker room and it’s something that I’ll be able to bring to the table.

On the advantage of adding a former Texas player to the coaching staff: I think that helps a lot, them knowing me and me knowing the system instead of bringing somebody in that doesn’t know the system. I think it helps a lot to bring in an ex-UT player that knows their way around here and knows how things get done, so it should make a difference.

On learning the game from a coach’s point of view: I think that’s the biggest thing I’m looking forward to, learning the game from a different perspective. Not just as a player but now from a coach’s point of view.

Rick Barnes
On Paulino as a player: He was always a real smart player. If truth be told, he would tell you that the whole time he was here I always thought that he could probably do more than he did. He stayed with it, and obviously he hit one of the biggest shots that has ever been hit here in the West Virginia game. He always had a great basketball IQ. In his senior year, when he really started coming into his own you could tell that it was something he wanted to pursue and he’d be good at it.

On how what it means to have former players come back to the program: It’s important to our program. We’ve been blessed with some really, really good kids here. They’ve come through and worked hard, and both Chris Ogden and now Kenton, they did good things for us while they were here. Obviously, basketball means a lot to them. The way that Kenton really had to work while he was playing professionally, to come back and finish his degree I think speaks volumes about him. A year ago when I started talking to him about it, I could tell he was just excited about having the chance to come back.

On when the idea of Paulino coming back first formulated: A year ago I was having lunch with Quin Snyder one day, his coach for the Toros. I told him I think Kenton would be a really good coach if he wanted to do it and Quin agreed with me. Quin actually put a little bug in his ear to see how he would bite on it, and Kenton said it would be something he would definitely be interested in. I wanted it to be something that he really wanted to do. I told ‘You would have to prove to us that you wanted to do it and we can’t even talk about it until you come back and finish your degree’. He worked hard last spring and this summer to do that.

On the hire: I will say this, I wouldn’t hire Kenton if I didn’t think he was the right guy for us, I really wouldn’t. I told him that. I said ‘I certainly appreciate your loyalty and what you did here,’ but I said, ‘This is important, this position. You’re going to have to jump into it and really do something with it, find a way to make it better’. He’s been good, he really has. I think he’s going to be great for the players on the floor because he certainly can relate to them. He’s very quiet, in his own way he communicates with them really well. Again, if he wasn’t the right guy I wouldn’t have put him in the position.

On the what Paulino brings to the coaching staff: First of all, he’s a graduate of the University of Texas. He has been through this program. He understands it as well as anyone. I think that in itself is going to speak loudly to the players that are here. I think he can relay some of his experiences because he’s a guy that went down the valley and on the mountain top and back down again and back up. He knows the roller coaster ride that you’re on, so I think he’s really going to be able to help some of these guys, especially once we really get into it with the ups and downs of it. He’s been through it, he’ll do a good job, there’s no doubt he’ll do a real good job.