Ole Miss: Barnes won't return as coach next season
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Posted 7:05PM on Friday, March 3, 2006
UNDATED - Rod Barnes will not return next season as men's basketball coach at Mississippi, athletic director Pete Boone said Friday.<br>
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Boone said Barnes will finish the season as the Rebels' coach, but wouldn't specify whether Barnes resigned or was being fired. A school spokesman said Barnes, who was traveling with his team for a game at No. 21 LSU on Saturday, would have no immediate comment.<br>
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``He won't be our coach next year,'' Boone told The Associated Press. ``I'm not sure how all of that works out, the terminology of that. I just don't know. We hadn't spent a whole lot of time talking about that.''<br>
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The school announced the coaching change a day after the decision was made, Boone said. The AD said he met with university chancellor Robert Khayat to discuss the Rebels' disappointing season.<br>
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Ole Miss (14-14, 4-11 Southeastern Conference) has lost 11 of 12 games since the team's 13-3 was its best since 2001-02 when it most recently reached the NCAA tournament.<br>
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``We were kind of hoping things would work out until the end, and they just didn't,'' Boone said.<br>
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Barnes is 141-107 in eight seasons coaching his alma mater, and is four victories behind B.L. ``Country'' Graham on the school's career victories list.<br>
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(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
