| 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[1] |
| 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) | |
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,[2] 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.[3]
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.[4]