Barnes receives Wolf Pack Athletics Hall of Fame nod

NEW ORLEANS – Chad Barnes needed just two seasons as a member of the Loyola University New Orleans men's basketball team to secure himself a pair of individual program records that stood the test of time.
 

The 690 points that Barnes scored during Loyola's 2002-2003 season were the most ever in a single season for the men's program. It would take two decades before a member of the Loyola squad that won the 2022 NAIA national title surpassed Barnes' record – by 29 points, and during a longer season given the championship run. 
 

Barnes, nonetheless, still owned one more entry in the school's men's basketball program record book at the time of his induction into the Wolf Pack Athletics Hall of Fame. The 11 three-pointers that the guard drained in a 111-108 defeat to William Carey University during the '02-03 campaign still remain the most in a single game for the Wolf Pack. 
 

Barnes set that mark while scoring a conference-record of 48 points in just 31 minutes – and leading the game in rebounds – as he individually outplayed the son of LSU and NBA legend Pete Maravich. Meanwhile, Pistol Pete's son Jaeson Maravich had 40 points while playing the entire 40-minute contest on what proved to be one of the most memorable, entertaining nights of basketball ever at Loyola's home arena, the Den.
 

Neither Barnes nor Maravich could go long the rest of that season without being compared to each other. And at the end of the year, the Wolf Pack couldn't help but feel aggrieved when Maravich earned recognition as a second-team NAIA All-American while Barnes was tapped for just an honorable mention. 
 

Though Barnes and his coach, Jerry Hernandez, both described themselves as happy over the recognition, Hernandez spoke for the entire Loyola community when he told The Maroon student newspaper: "I was [also] a little disappointed because … Chad should have been higher."
 

A lack of collective success may have hurt Barnes at the All-America level. The Wolf Pack went 9 and 53 – a winning percentage of 14.5% – during Barnes' time at Loyola. 
 

Barnes spoke candidly with The Maroon about the conflicting emotions that athletes experience when they thrive personally but do not fulfill the ambitions of a team championship.
 

"I'm proud because I can see my hard work is paying off," Barnes said. "[But] the reward I want is winning."
 

Eventually, Barnes drew interest from the basketball program at the University of New Orleans, which competes in the NCAA's top division. He ultimately joined the Privateers for one campaign, helping the Privateers win 13 games during the 2004-2005 season, which was their final one before the federal levee failures during Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans the following summer. 
 

He averaged just fewer than 10 points, 3.5 rebounds and two assists per game while making 38% of his 177 three-point attempts. 
 

Barnes played his final year of college basketball at Houston Christian University, averaging more than 11 points per game for the Huskies. He also played professionally in Cyprus. 
 

Before arriving at Loyola, Barnes helped New Orleans' Jesuit High School capture a 2001 state championship in basketball. That championship was Jesuit basketball's first since 1966, and it was the school's last as of the time of Barnes' induction.
 

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