Georgia State hires Rod Barnes as new basketball coach
March 19, 2007
ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Rod Barnes, a former Naismith Coach of the Year, is the new men's basketball coach at Georgia State.
Terms were not disclosed. The announcement was made Monday by Georgia State director of athletics Mary McElroy, who was able to lure Barnes from his position as an assistant under Jeff Capel at Oklahoma.
Barnes, 41, was the 2001 Naismith Coach of the Year at Mississippi. He guided the Rebels to a school-record 27 wins and an appearance in the regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.
In eight seasons at Ole Miss, Barnes went 141-109 with four postseason appearances. He was fired after the 2005-06 campaign, which saw the Rebels get off to a 13-3 start but lose 13 of their last 14 games.
"Our athletics strategic plan is to develop one of the top teams in the Colonial Athletic Association and compete regularly for postseason opportunities," McElroy said in a statement. "We know coach Barnes knows what discipline, attitudes and work habits it takes to do that and we are delighted to have him lead our Georgia State program."
"This is an exciting day for him and for his family, and I think Georgia State is awfully lucky to get the man of character, the quality of teacher and the quality of coach that he is," Capel said in a statement.
Barnes was an all-Southeastern Conference player at Ole Miss and has spent 17 years in coaching. He joined Capel's staff before this season.
"He was a big help to me and to our program because of his experience, especially in a major conference," Capel said. "Everyone affiliated with Oklahoma basketball learned a lot from him - not just about basketball, but about life."
Barnes replaces Michael Perry, who guided the Panthers to an 11-20 mark this season before being fired March 4 with two years left on his contract. He was 62-75 in five-plus years at Georgia State.
