Charles Barkley says Auburn should have hired black coach

Never one to keep his opinions to himself, NBA analyst Charles Barkley weighed in on Auburn's hiring of Gene Chizik today.

Barkley is upset that Auburn did not choose Buffalo coach Turner Gill to be the head man for the Tigers.

""I think race was the No. 1 factor," said Barkley, who played basketball for three seasons at Auburn during the early 1980s. "You can say it's not about race, but you can't compare the two resumes and say [Chizik] deserved the job. Out of all the coaches they interviewed, Chizik probably had the worst resume."

Barkley further lamented the bigger coaching picture for African-Americans.

""My biggest problem with the black coaches is they're not getting jobs and they're getting [expletive] jobs when they are hired," Barkley said. "They're not getting good jobs. They're not getting jobs where they can be successful. That's why I wanted Turner to get the Auburn job. He could win consistently at Auburn. You can't win consistently at New Mexico. You can't win consistently at Kansas State. He could have won at Auburn."

What do you think? Does Sir Charles have a point or should he stay out of it?

Lobbying for Gill, alum Barkley says Auburn should have hired black coach   [ESPN]