Barnes Named Texas Basketball Coach

Clemson’s Rick Barnes is the new basketball coach at Texas, replacing Tom Penders, the Longhorns’ winningest coach who resigned after a player revolt.

Barnes met with Clemson players in South Carolina late Sunday and was to be formally introduced at a news conference in Austin this afternoon.

His hiring, announced Sunday night in a faxed news release from the university, ends a search that began when Penders resigned April 2.

The search had focused on Utah’s Rick Majerus until Sunday morning, when negotiations broke down with the Utes’ coach, according to two university sources.

But Majerus had always been a difficult target because he makes roughly $1 million at Utah, and Texas Athletic Director DeLoss Dodds had said that the basketball coach wouldn’t make more than new football Coach Mack Brown, who earns $750,000 annually.

Penders made $550,000 per year.

Barnes, 43, met with Texas officials Thursday in Atlanta and then again in Dallas on Friday, and he impressed screening committee members with his hard-nosed, defense-minded approach.

Dodds has said he would like a coach who stresses defense.

He also fit Dodds’ financial criteria, making just under $700,000 per year at Clemson.

Last year, Barnes spurned big offers from Ohio State and Tennessee, signing a contract with Clemson worth at least $668,000 a year and another $125,000 in bonuses.

An automatic $25,000 bonus for making the NCAA tournament this year meant that Barnes’ base salary next year at Clemson would have been $693,000. He had a $100,000 buyout clause in his contract.

Barnes, 74-48 in four years at Clemson, was popular with Tiger fans.

He earned a reputation as a colorful personality by doing remote radio stand-ups from Clemson fan tailgate parties before football games and by handing out hot chocolate and pizza to students who camped out for tickets.

Barnes’ overall mark is 202-134, including one year at George Mason