J. D. Barnett
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, 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. 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. His last head coaching position was in 2004-2005, when Barnett was both the head coach and athletic director at Division II Hawaii Pacific.
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 10, 1944 Meadville, Missouri, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1964–1966 | Winona State |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1970–1971 | Lenoir–Rhyne |
| 1971–1972 | High Point |
| 1973–1977 | West Texas State (asst.) |
| 1977–1979 | Louisiana Tech |
| 1979–1985 | VCU |
| 1985–1991 | Tulsa |
| 1994–1999 | Northwestern State |
| 2004–2005 | Hawaii Pacific |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1991–1994 | Tulsa Union HS |
| 1994–1999 | Northwestern State (assoc.) |
| 2000–2004 | Tulane (assoc.) |
| 2004–2005 | Hawaii Pacific |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 356–272 |
| Tournaments | 4–7 (NCAA Division I) 0–2 (NIT) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 4 Sun Belt regular season (1981, 1983–1985) 3 Sun Belt tournament (1980, 1981, 1985) MVC regular season (1987) MVC tournament (1986) | |
| Awards | |
| Southland Coach of the Year (1979) 2x Sun Belt Coach of the Year (1983, 1984) MVC Coach of the Year (1987) | |
Barnett graduated from Winona State University in 1966 with two varsity letters each in baseball and basketball. He was inducted into the school's athletic hall of fame in 2002.