Charles Barkley delivers impassioned speech at Auburn's locker room

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Charles Barkley delivers a speech to his alma mater, Auburn, before the Final Four. (Photo: CBS)

MINNEAPOLIS – There is a statue of Charles Barkley outside Auburn Arena.

Every day, Auburn's basketball players walk near the statue as they enter the arena to lift weights, train and play games.

But the legend of Auburn is not limited to a statue. The NBA Hall of Famer is part of the basketball team as much as possible. He attends several matches each season and since Bruce Pearl became a coach there in 2014, he was more active within the team.

Now, with a national championship in sight at the first appearance in the Final Four of Auburn's history, Barkley conveys his wisdom to the players he calls "his kids".

"I've had an amazing life as a basketball player," Barkley told the Tigers in an undated video released here by CBS Sports in Minneapolis. "My number has retired to Auburn, my number has retired to Philadelphia, my number is retired with the Phoenix Suns. But what do you know? I have never won a championship. Never won a championship. I have to live with it forever. You had the opportunity to do it. And it is hard as hell to win a championship. It is difficult. But you did the trick when you got here.

"My coach is here, Sonny (Smith), he's like a father to me. We did not manage to qualify for the Final Four, he never went to the Final Four. This is the first coach trip to the Final Four. He is a coach forever. "

Sonny Smith led Auburn for 11 years, reaching the NCAA Tournament in five consecutive seasons, while running his program for his first Elite Eight in 1986. Barkley played at Auburn from 1981 to 1984 before starting his formidable career in the NBA, including gold medals at the Olympics. and several appearances in the playoffs.

But Barkley has never won a title in Auburn or the NBA.

"You do not know how difficult it is to get here," he said. "You did all the heavy work. But the only thing I want to tell you, man, take this opportunity. You do not have anything to do anywhere else. You all played very well to get here, but do not take this thing for granted. "

The # 5 seed, Auburn (30-9), successively eliminated the three most successful programs in college basketball history to qualify for the finals – Kansas, North Carolina and Kentucky. The Tigers play against the No. 1 seed, Virginia (33-3) today at 5:09 pm. CT on CBS.

Barkley is part of the team of Turner and CBS program analysts at the NCAA tournament and will be on stage here in Minneapolis during the match.

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