The Green Wave will welcome another new face to Athletics, with the hiring of Jim Barnes as the head coach for indoor volleyball, the ninth in Tulane history. 

A Lake Charles, Louisiana native returning to his roots, Barnes comes with a lot of experience. He was an assistant coach at his alma mater McNeese State for six years before his first head coaching job at Lamar in Belmont, Texas in 1996. Nineteen years later he is still coaching, after coaching at Wyoming and Baylor.

Barnes has an overall record of 344-268 (.562) and was responsible for some of the finest seasons Lamar, Wyoming and Baylor all witnessed, having taken the Baylor Bears to the NCAA “Sweet 16” and coaching the first All-Americans the Bears ever had.

“We are very happy to welcome Jim Barnes to the Tulane family,” Dannen said. “He has an established track record of achieving competitively what we as a program aspire to right now.”

Alongside Barnes, Brian Yale and Meredith Schamun will join the Green Wave in the 2016-17 season. Yale will serve as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, while Schamun is an assistant coach.

Barnes will keep Amy Grabiec as the director of operations, Eric Beyer as program coordinator and Wayne Holly, who has helped with the indoor program, will serve as head coach for beach volleyball on staff.

“We have a very talented coaching staff assembled that will make a major impact on our program,” Barnes said. “Coach Holly, as our head coach, is a tremendous leader and will continue to build that program into an elite contender now as his sole responsibility.”

Barnes is up for the challenge of revamping the program into one that the state of Louisiana can be proud of. He hopes to bring the team to consistent conference championships and make winning routine for the Wave.

“This is a new era for Tulane athletics and Tulane volleyball,” Barnes said. “We are thankful to be a part of the Tulane Nation.”