Barnes-Borseth Connection
By David Song
Sports Capital Journalism Program, IUPUI
In his seventh season at Youngstown State University, head coach John Barnes has proven to be an invaluable asset for the Penguins women’s basketball program. Under his tutelage, the team has reached the postseason in four of the past six seasons and has an overall record of 110-99.
Youngstown State qualified for the Women’s National Invitational Tournament in 2015 and 2019, and the Women’s Basketball Invitational in 2016 and 2018. Barnes’ 104 wins are good for the second-most in program history, and through 13 total seasons as collegiate head coach, he owns a record of 273-158.
In 1995, Barnes began his coaching career as an assistant at Lake Superior State University, Michigan’s smallest public university. The following year, he went overseas to the St. Nicolai Basketball Club in Denmark. Barnes’ unique experiences as a player-coach in 1996-97 gave him a newfound perspective on what athletes go through over the course of a season.
“It was very tough to balance,” he recalls. “You’re a teammate and a friend, and you’re also trying to coach the team. It made me understand there’s got to be a separation between the friendship aspect and [my coaching position] as a father figure, trying to keep them on the right path.”
From 1997-2003, Barnes was an assistant coach at Michigan Tech, the school he played for during his undergraduate years in 1991-95. There, he became reacquainted with Kevin Borseth, the man who coached Michigan Tech’s women’s team when Barnes played for the men’s team. Both are from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and are good friends.
“[Michigan Tech] is where we spent the majority of our time together,” Borseth said about his relationship with Barnes. “He succeeded me as a coach at Michigan Tech and did a phenomenal job. Over the course of time, we formed a real good relationship because when you’re up there, it’s kind of like family.”
Borseth left for the Green Bay Phoenix in 1998, and Barnes served as head coach at his alma mater from 2003-10. After guiding the Huskies to 156 wins and just 55 losses, Barnes spent 2010-2011 at Wisconsin before joining Borseth’s Michigan Wolverines coaching staff the following year. When Borseth returned to Green Bay in 2012, Barnes—who has always appreciated the Phoenix program—accompanied him for one more season as associate head coach.
Together, Borseth and Barnes won the 2012-2013 Horizon League title in Green Bay, located only a few hours from Barnes’ childhood home. Barnes believed that success with the Phoenix would give him the experience necessary to land a Division I head coaching job. His instincts proved sound when he was offered the head coach position at Youngstown State in 2013.
Borseth, a head coach for 33 years, owns one of the best records in college basketball at 731-287. Going into this season, his 713 victories ranked 10
th among active Division I coaches. Under Borseth, the Phoenix have won the regular season six times and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in five of seven playoff appearances since 2012.
Barnes has expressed his admiration for Borseth’s skills and credits the older coach with helping him grow in his own career.
“He’s a great defensive coach,” Barnes spoke of Green Bay’s coach. “I’ve learned a lot on that aspect. He holds his players accountable, and he has so much experience, so many years of coaching, [so many] changes that he can make throughout the game to help his teams be successful. His players have a lot of respect for him.”
While Borseth recognizes that he and Barnes have differing points of view regarding the game of basketball, he does not see that as a negative. Instead, he praised Barnes for bringing a divergent philosophy to his coaching staff, and different ingredients that ultimately made their Michigan and Green Bay teams stronger.
?“John’s approach and my approach, which are alike, are also different,” Borseth revealed. “We’ve got different ways to do things, and that’s how you want your staff to be. Everybody can’t think on the same page. John really likes shooters—that’s his forte. His kids can really, really shoot, and he’s had an extreme amount of success. I’ve always been a defense-oriented person, so I think that’s been my first and foremost interest.”
While Barnes teaches his players to shoot the ball with confidence, he also challenges them to aim high in the classroom. His teams have appeared on the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Academic Top 25 Honor Roll five separate times. Most recently, in 2018-19, the Penguins held a 3.75 team GPA at the end of the fall semester—the best by any team in department history. They combined such academic excellence with a 22-10 record.
“Through the recruiting process, we make it very clear that the top priority is [our athletes’] education and doing well in school,” Barnes explained. “The job market is tough out there. If you have a 3.6 and you’re going against someone with a 2.6, you’ve got a great chance to get the job.”
Barnes often reminds his athletes that school comes first, no matter what. Even when his players need to take classes that conflict with practice, which at times affects the Penguins’ athletic performance, he encourages them to focus on their education.
“It’s hard, because we [as coaches] are hired to win games, and we’ll get fired if we don’t,” Barnes continued. “But ultimately, for myself and for my staff, it’s the number one priority for [our kids] to do well in the classroom.”
The Youngstown State Penguins completed a 13-16 regular season marred with injuries to six of their 14 players—including three starters that missed the whole year. However, Barnes was optimistic that the extra experience gained by his freshmen will pay dividends not only in the Horizon League tournament but in future seasons as well. The seventh-seeded Penguins will play at No. 6 Cleveland State on Tuesday night.
The Phoenix finished the regular season with a 13-5 League record and will play in the #HLWBB Semifinals on Monday, March 9.