Barnes helped coach Ole Miss to consecutive 20-win seasons and NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship berths in 1997 and 1998.
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.
In his fifth season in Bakersfield, Barnes led the Roadrunners to the programs' first appearance in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship.
[2] 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.
[3] He was also named a finalist for the Ben Jobe Award, given annually to the top minority coach in NCAA Division I Men's Basketball.