One coach and two former players, all from Yazoo County will be among those vying for a NCAA championship when the 2015-16 NCAA Tournament begins later this week.
Rod Barnes, who played at Bentonia High School, is now in his 5th season as head coach at California State Bakersfield. Freshman Deondre Burns, who began his career at Yazoo City High before graduating from Newman-Smith High School in Carrolton, Texas is now a member of the Arkansas Little Rock Trojans. Former Yazoo County Lady Panther standout Ashanti Spencer is a senior at Alabama State University.
Each one will have their chance to play for a national championship as their respective teams were selected to participate in the Men's and Women's NCAA tournaments.
Barnes' squad has its work cut out for them as they open the tournament Friday at 3 p.m. against the Oklahoma Sooners and their player-of-the-year candidate Buddy Hield. The 15th seeded Roadrunners finished the season with a 24-8 record and advanced to the Big Dance after defeating New Mexico State 57-54 to win the Western Athletic Conference tournament title game. The win catapulted the Roadrunners to the first NCAA tourney appearance in school history.
While this marks the first time for CSUB to reach the tournament, it isn't for Barnes. While head coach at Ole Miss, Barnes guided the Rebels to a Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2001. Also that year, he was named the SEC Coach of the Year as well as the Naismith College Coach of the Year. After leaving Ole Miss Barnes coached at Georgia State before taking the Bakersfield post.
“This is just an amazing feeling. We have been here 5 years building for this kind of season,” said Barnes. “We went from being in no conference 5 years ago to going to the NCAAs this year.”
Barnes may have tournament experience, but his team does not. Barnes, however, is going to lean on his veteran players to guide the way. “This is such a great experience it could be overwhelming to some players and even coaches,” said Barnes. “I think my guys are going to respond well. We have a veteran team with great leadership and team chemistry. Hopefully I can help them to have confidence in themselves.”
Burns and the 12th seeded Trojans (29-4) will face No. 5 seed Purdue Thursday at 3:30 p.m. in the opening round of the Midwest bracket. The Trojans advanced to the tournament after defeating Louisiana-Monroe 70-50 in the Sun Belt Conference title game. This marks the 5th trip to the NCAAs for UALR and the first since 2011. Burns who saw limited play during his freshman season averaged 2 points per game for the Trojans.
Spencer has been a major contributor for the Lady Hornets over the course of her career. The Lady Hornets, a 15 seed, will play Saturday at 8 p.m. against the No. 2 seeded Texas Longhorns on ESPN2. Alabama State (19-11) won back-to-back SWAC titles after defeating Southern 55-51 over the weekend. Spencer is averaging 7.1 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1 assist per game for the Lady Hornets during her senior campaign.
