Robert Barnes, who helped build Belmont’s men’s basketball program, died Aug. 10, the school announced.
Barnes, 91, played on the first four teams Belmont fielded, was a two-time Chuck Taylor All-American and the school’s first conference player of the year in 1956.
Barnes holds school records in career scoring average (28.2), free throws made (741) and free throws made in a season (301). He stands second in career rebounding average (13.7).
The Birmingham, Alabama, native’s 2,305 career points puts him third on the school’s all-time list. He accomplished that feat in three seasons, after spending his first year on the freshman team. His single-game career best was 54 against Athens College n Feb. 26, 1954, a record that stood for 35 years.
His No. 15 is one of just three numbers the school has retired and is recognized as an Ohio Valley Conference “Legend.”
“I don’t see how we could have finished anywhere near the top in league standings without Barnes,” Belmont coach Larry Striplin told The Tennessean’s Grantland Rice II in 1955, when the team qualified for the NAIA Tournament. “He has been valuable in every way and should be even greater next year.”
Following college, Barnes was an executive vice president of Nelson-Brantley Glass Co. in Birmingham.
Paul Skrbina is a sports enterprise reporter covering the Predators, Titans, Nashville SC, local colleges and local sports for The Tennessean. Reach him at pskrbina@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @paulskrbina.