Rodrick Kenneth Barnes (born January 8, 1966) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach. He is the head men's basketball coach a

California State University, Bakersfield California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB, Cal State Bakersfield, or CSU Bakersfield) is a public university in Bakersfield, California. It was established in 1965 as Kern State College and officially in 1968 as California State College Bake ...

, a position he has held since 2011. Barnes held the same position at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

(Ole Miss) from 1998 to 2006 and

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the ...

from 2007 to 2011.

Playing and early coaching career

Barnes played college basketball at the

of the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

from 1985 to 1988. He earned All-SEC and

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

honorable mention honors in 1988. Barnes earned his business administration degree in 1989 and left Ole Miss to become an assistant coach at

Livingston University The University of West Alabama (UWA) is a public university in Livingston, Alabama. Founded in 1835, the school began as a church-supported school for young women called Livingston Female Academy. The original Board of Trustees of Livingston Fe ...

in 1990. In 1993, Barnes returned to Ole Miss to serve as an assistant coach to Rob Evans. Barnes helped coach Ole Miss to consecutive 20-win seasons and

NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...

berths in 1997 and 1998.

Head coaching career

When Evans departed for

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

in 1998, Barnes was promoted to head coach of Ole Miss. Barnes coached them for eight seasons, building a 141–109 record. In his first year, Barnes tallied Ole Miss' first-ever NCAA Tournament win. The Rebels had been one of the few longstanding members of a "power conference" to have never won an NCAA Tournament game. He was named 2001

Naismith College Coach of the Year Naismith College Coach of the Year Award is an award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to one men's and one women's NCAA Division I collegiate coach each season since 1987. The award was originally given to the two winning coaches of the NCAA Divis ...

and the 2001 SEC Coach of the Year after leading Ole Miss to a school-record 27-win season in 2000–01 which included a trip to the Sweet Sixteen round of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship—the deepest NCAA tournament run in school history. However, Barnes would only garner one other winning season after the Sweet 16 appearance. He was fired after the 2005–06 season in which Ole Miss started 13–3 but lost 13 of their last 14 games. Barnes served as an assistant coach at the

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

during the 2006–07 season. On March 19, 2007, Barnes was hired as the head coach of the men's basketball team at Georgia State University of the NCAA Division I's Colonial Athletic Association. On February 26, 2011, it was announced that Barnes would not return as head coach at Georgia State

On March 30, 2011 Rod Barnes was named head men's basketball coach at Cal State Bakersfield. In his fifth season in Bakersfield, Barnes led the Roadrunners to the programs' first appearance in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. CSUB earned its berth with a buzzer-beating victory over New Mexico State in the finals of the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

Tournament. Barnes's squad fell to Oklahoma in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but he earned a five-year contract extension at the end of the campaign. He was also named a finalist for the

Ben Jobe Award The Ben Jobe National Coach of the Year Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding minority men's college basketball head coach in NCAA Division I competition. The award was established in 2010 and is named for head coach Ben Jobe, wh ...

, given annually to the top minority coach in NCAA Division I Men's Basketball.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Cal State Bakersfield profile

Georgia State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Rod 1966 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Mississippi Basketball players from Mississippi Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners men's basketball coaches College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Georgia State Panthers men's basketball coaches Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball coaches Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball coaches Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball players People from Yazoo County, Mississippi West Alabama Tigers men's basketball coaches