Joseph Donald Barnett (born January 10, 1944) is an American retired college basketball coach. He was a former head basketball coach at several Division I institutions, the most high-profile being

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virgini ...

, where his most notable win consisted of a buzzer-beater NCAA Tournament win over Jim Calhoun's Northeastern Huskies. He is also well known for being a mentor of

Tubby Smith Orlando Henry "Tubby" Smith (born June 30, 1951) is an American college basketball coach. He was the men's basketball coach at High Point University, his alma mater. Smith previously served in the same role at the University of Tulsa, the Univers ...

, the current head coach at

High Point University High Point University is a private university in High Point, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The university was founded as High Point College in 1924, and it became High Point University in October 1991. HPU of ...

. Most notably, Barnett taught Smith the philosophy of ball-line defense, which is a strategy that requires all defenders to stay between the line of the ball and the baseline. He was most recently the head coach and

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

at Division II Hawaii Pacific. Barnett graduated from

Winona State University Winona State University (Winona) is a public university in Winona, Minnesota. It was founded as First State Normal School of Minnesota in 1858 and is the oldest member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System. It was the first no ...

in 1966 with two varsity letters each in baseball and basketball. He was inducted into the school's athletic hall of fame in 2002.

Coaching career

Barnett has a career record of 317–229 (.580) in Division I basketball, including 7 NCAA tournament appearances. During his stay at Virginia Commonwealth, Barnett led the Rams to 5 NCAA tournament appearances, with 4 of those resulting in 1st round victories. In his first two years at Tulsa, he led the Golden Hurricane to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances. Both of those, however, resulted in 1st round exits. That was the last time J.D. Barnett made the NCAAs. Also, Maurice Cheeks, former head coach of the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

, was recruited by and played under Barnett while he was an assistant coach at West Texas State. While at West Texas State, Barnett is credited with organizing "The Cager Club", a support group that helped the basketball program. In addition,

Tom Izzo Tom Izzo (, ); born January 30, 1955) is an American college basketball coach who has been the head coach at Michigan State University since 1995. On April 4, 2016, Izzo was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Izzo has led the Spart ...

was hired by Barnett to be his recruiting coordinator at Tulsa. Izzo left a low-paying student assistant position with

Jud Heathcote George Melvin "Jud" Heathcote (May 27, 1927 – August 28, 2017) was an American basketball player and coach. He was a college basketball head coach for 24 seasons: five at the University of Montana and nineteen at Michigan State University H ...

to take the position with Tulsa. That experiment lasted all of seven weeks before Heathcote called Izzo offering him an assistant coaching position back in East Lansing.

Administrative career

From 1991 to 1994, Barnett was athletic director at Union High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Barnett also served as associate athletic director at Northwestern State while head men's basketball coach from 1994 to 1999. From 2000 to 2004, Barnett was senior associate athletic director for revenue development at

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

in New Orleans.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Hawaii Pacific profile (2004)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnett, J. D. 1944 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Missouri Basketball players from Missouri College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Hawaii Pacific Sharks athletic directors Hawaii Pacific Sharks men's basketball coaches High Point Panthers men's basketball coaches Lenoir–Rhyne Bears men's basketball coaches Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball coaches Northwestern State Demons basketball coaches People from Linn County, Missouri Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball coaches VCU Rams men's basketball coaches West Texas A&M Buffaloes basketball coaches Winona State Warriors baseball players Winona State Warriors men's basketball players