Jim Barnes

Velvet James Barnes (April 13, 1941 – September 14, 2002), also known as Jim "Bad News" Barnes, was an American basketball player, who was an Olympic Gold Medalist and the No. 1 overall pick of the 1964 NBA draft. He played college basketball at Texas Western College (now the University of Texas at El Paso).

Early life As a child, Barnes picked and chopped cotton, growing up in Tuckerman, Arkansas. He played basketball wearing socks, as his family was too poor to afford basketball shoes. At age 13, Barnes had grown to 6'6" and his grandfather was said to have been 7'0" tall.

Barnes attended the all-Black W.F. Branch High School in Newport, Arkansas after they promised to provide him basketball shoes. The team finished 3rd in the 1957 State Black Basketball Championships. Barnes then moved to Poplar Bluff High School (Mo.), where he was ruled ineligible due to residency issues. He returned to Branch where, playing in socks, as his feet had grown to size 17, he scored 68 points and had 38 rebounds against Vanndale.

Barnes' family was influenced, moved and he then enrolled at Stillwater High School in Stillwater, Oklahoma. There, he gained further notoriety when Stillwater defeated a state title Pampa, Texas team 94–40. However, Barnes was ruled ineligible after one season, after recruiting allegations surfaced and the team had to forfeit 22 games. He tallied 28.8 points per game in his freshman year (1960–1961) and 30.6 points per game in his sophomore year. He also received NJCAA All-American honors as a sophomore (1961–1962).

Barnes then chose to attend the Texas Western College (now known as University of Texas at El Paso), under Hall of Fame Coach Don Haskins. Haskins' recruiting of Barnes led to a free throw contest that was won by Haskins and Barnes enrolled, saying Haskins and Miners player (and future Hall of Fame Coach) Nolan Richardson won him over with their honesty.

In 1963–64 Barnes averaged 29.1 points and 19.2 rebounds on 56.3% shooting from the field. His season was highlighted by a 51-point, 36 rebound effort in a 100–56 win over Western New Mexico on Jan. 4, 1964.

The 1963–64 Miners finished 25–3 and advanced to the 1964 NCAA University Division basketball tournament, where they were defeated by Kansas State in the Midwest Regional Semi-Final as Barnes fouled out of the game. Barnes had 42 points and 19 rebounds in the Miners' 68–62 first round win over Texas A & M. he was traded along with Johnny Green, Johnny Egan and cash from the Knicks to the Baltimore Bullets for Walt Bellamy on November 1, 1965.

Barnes was very productive in his early career, averaging a double-double, before numerous knee and achilles injuries slowed him and eventually ended his career. After averaging 15.5 points and 9.7 rebounds for the Knicks/Bullets in 1964–1965, he averaged 12.4 points and 10.3 rebounds for the Bullets in 1965–1966. After that, he played less minutes due to injuries and became an effective reserve player.

Overall, Barnes appeared in 454 games and played seven seasons (1964–71) in the NBA. He played for the Knicks (1964–1965), Baltimore Bullets (1965–1966 and 1970–1971), Los Angeles Lakers (1967–1968), Chicago Bulls (1968) and Boston Celtics (1968–1970), and he scored 3,997 points for an 8.8 points per average. In 2009, Barnes was inducted into the Cameron College Athletics Hall of Fame. Barnes was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.