Head coach Rick Pietri has added veteran coach Rachel Barnes to the Jax State women's basketball staff ahead of the 2025-26 season. Barnes joins the staff after spending three seasons at Texas A&M-Kingsville.
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Barnes joined the Texas A&M-Kingsville staff for the 2022-23 season after previously serving as an assistant coach at Pensacola State College, where she'd been since 2014.
Her first season with the program saw a historic year, in which, the team secured the fifth seed in the Lone Star Conference Tournament, representing TAMUK's highest finish in the league since the 2000-01 season. The 2022-23 team finished 18-11 for the most Blue and Gold wins since 2009-10 and tied that group for the fifth-highest total in program history. Additionally, the Javelinas went 15-7 in conference play, matching the 1999-00 team for the most LSC victories in school history.
During her three years with the Kingsville program, Barnes has coached 10 different players to All-LSC team appearances, including four who were named to the 2022-23 All-LSC teams, the most in a single season since 2010. Briana Pena completed her final season with a Third-Team nod and an All-Academic selection, becoming the first Javelina to accomplish both feats since Javelina Hall of Famer Lorie Martinez in 1998. Georgia Ohiaeri and Mia Rivers joined Pena on the Third Team, while Jayde Tschritter was an honorable mention. Two more, Mia Rivers and Shelby Ray, were honored last season as both were named honorable mentions. Ray also won the conference's Sixth Woman of the Year award.
At Pensacola State College, she spent time as an interim head coach overseeing the selection of seven first-team All-Panhandle players and one All-American. Additionally, she recently received distinction as the 2021-22 World Exposure Report's NJCAA Assistant Coach of the Year.
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Before her time with the Lady Pirates, Barnes had stints at Seward County Community College and Windsor High School. She is a 2012 graduate of Providence College who represented the Friars women's basketball team following a pair of seasons as an NJCAA All-American at Seward County.
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