Coach Barnes

[guinpen]

Youngstown State head women’s basketball coach John Barnes is taking a leave of absence to focus on personal family matters. Associate Head Coach John Nicolais (pronounced Nick-oh-lay), who has provided stable leadership alongside Barnes since the pair arrived together at YSU in 2013, will serve as acting head coach until Barnes returns.
 
“We support Coach Barnes’ decision, and we will continue to focus on our student-athletes as our top priority,” said YSU Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Ron Strollo. “We have a great support system in place, and we feel strongly that Coach Nicolais and our six seniors can lead our program both on and off the court.”
 
Strollo and Nicolais will address the media Tuesday.

[IAA Fan]

Good to see everyone is engaged in this. They will be bringing in an additional coach. Sounds like the choice has been made & they are just waiting for things to finalize. This is not any type of replacement.

[goodnews]

Why did he resign?

[Double ET]

From WKBN report

https://www.wkbn.com/sports/ysu-womens-basketball-coach-steps-down/

[Cimo7]

Any ideas why?? There is obviously more to this.

[YsuPride]

I don't know why someone would resign a job someone has been at for 10 years for no reason unless something else we don't have any info on.  Funny how it has been kept secret so long.  Good luck in the coaches search.  I don't believe the acting head coach will get the job though.    National search???

[YsuPride]

For the record I liked Barnes as head coach and wish him luck in the future.

[Wick250]

This did not surprise me since Barnes had been on a leave of absence since early October. The reason for that has been cloaked in a level of secrecy that would rival the Manhattan Project.

YSU women's basketball is a very good mid-major job. It features competitive pay, strong administrative support, an excellent fan base by mid-major standards, and now a renovated gym on the horizon. Also the level of high school talent for girls in a radius of 100 miles is solid.

But the new coach will face a massive rebuilding project after the collapse this season. I expect at least three freshmen will have to start next year, and it will be three years before we can place a competitive team back on the court in the Horizon League.

This will be Strollo's fifth hire for women's basketball. His first two choices were absolutely pathetic (Hill and Martin.) His last two were very good (Boldon and Barnes.) Let's hope that he can keep his winning streak intact.

[mudclods]

Obviously will never know what happened if it was a personal matter. 

[Double ET]

But the new coach will face a massive rebuilding project after the collapse this season. I expect at least three freshmen will have to start next year, and it will be three years before we can place a competitive team back on the court in the Horizon

[/quote]
Instead of possibly starting 3 Freshmen, the new coach could follow the game plan of Calhoun by hitting the transfer portal to bring in some experienced players.

If you look at the roster of MBB after the 2021-2022, I didn’t think we would win more than 8 games. But when Calhoun brought in those guys via the transfer portal, we won the league championship.

So, we need to make the right hire.

[Wick250]

ET,

Transfers are possible, but all 15 scholarships for next season are now accounted for. The only way a new coach can bring in a transfer is if someone projected to be on next year's roster leaves, which of course is likely in the modern world of college athletics.  Right now for next season we are looking at 8 freshmen (true and redshirt) and 3 sophomores who have played very, very few minutes. And of the 4 returning veterans who have played extensively this season, only 1 is really a DI athlete. Ouch!

[Double ET]

Wick,
I didn’t know the scholarship situation with the team next year.
Ouch is right.
we had similar situation on MBB couple years ago. If you recall, many marginal players transferred out to lower tier teams (freed up some scholarships). It was not reported at the time whether these guys did it voluntarily or Calhoun yanked their scholarships. I think, according to NCAA rules, scholarships have to be renewed each year.

Unfortunately, I think the new coach will have neither the time nor opportunity to pull this off for being the new person in town.

[YsuPride]

If I understand the coach can say who stays who leaves based on performance.