Mildred "Millie" Barnes
Women's Basketball Coach
Central Missouri (1971-80)
Barnes, who coached the Jennies for nine seasons (1971-80), is credited with laying the foundation for the current Jennies' basketball program. She never had a losing season in her nine-year career, compiling a 156-63 record and winning two AIAW state championships. The Jennies were 26-5 in her final season (1979-80) as coach and reached the AIAW national tournament. Highly respected in women's basketball circles nationwide, Barnes became the first woman to serve on the board of trustees of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame (1977-86), and was the only woman out of 50 trustees until the late 1980's. Barnes has served on numerous other national committees and boards, as she was also the first female to be appointed to the Board of Directors for the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, to be appointed to a U.S. Olympic Committee by the NCAA, and to be elected Vice-President of the Amateur Basketball Association of USA.
She served on the U.S. Olympic Women's Basketball Committee as the chair and was instrumental in bringing the first U.S. Olympic Women's Basketball Team to Warrensburg to train prior to the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. The team earned a silver medal at the Olympics and featured such prominent women's basketball names as Pat Summit, Nancy Lieberman and Ann Meyers. In addition to the Central Missouri Hall of Fame, she is in four others including the Northeast Women's Hall of Fame (1994), the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame (2005), the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame (2000), and the Boston University Athletic Hall of Fame (1978) where she was the first woman ever inducted. Barnes retired from Central Missouri in 1991 as professor emeritus of physical education, following 22 years of service to the university.
As an athlete, she was a member of the U.S. National Lacrosse team and competed nationally in field hockey, tennis, and badminton. She was drafted by the women's professional baseball league, and was on the All-American Lacrosse Team 12 years in a row. She earned her bachelor's from Boston University, and her master's and doctorate degrees from Surgent University. She was also a nationally rated basketball, lacrosse, softball, and volleyball referee. She was the President of the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport from 1974-1975.
She was the Chair of the basketball rules committee and the official rules interpreter for all high schools and higher education institutions from 1966-1969. She was the Chief of the Delegation for the U.S. Women's Basketball team at the World Championship in Columbia, South America in 1975, was the manager of the U.S. Women's Basketball team at the Pan American Games in Mexico City in 1975, was the Chief of Delegation for the U.S. Women's Basketball team at the Jones Cup in Taiwan and Japan in 1976, and was the coach of the U.S. Women's Basketball team at the Jones Cup in 1977.