Quacy Barnes played in the WNBA, coached at Indiana University and Austin Peay and is now joining the Panther’s women’s team as an assistant coach.

Barnes will join assistant coaches April O’Neil and recent addition Megan Sparks this season to try and improve over last year’s 10-19 record. The 6’5” Barnes will be a welcoming addition to this team’s post players.

“I’m really excited,” O’Neil said. “We’ve accepted her so well, especially in the post position. She’s 6’5,” has played so many different arenas and will be able to bring that into her coaching experience.”

For a senior 6’0” post player like Megan Scraggs, the opportunity to play under O’Neil is nothing short of exciting.

“Especially since she’s a post coach, I think it [the coaching staff] would be complete with her,” Scraggs said. “I’m just excited to learn from her.”

Barnes became the first Indiana Hoosier alumnus to enter the WNBA draft, as she was selected 22nd overall by the Sacramento Monarchs in 1998. She went on to also play for the Seattle Storm and the Phoenix Mercury as well as playing professionally in China, Israel, Italy, South Korea and Turkey.

She was the all-time leader in blocked shots at Indiana with 269, and did not let up at the WNBA level, leading the Storm in blocked shots in 2000. Barnes averaged more than a block a game and helped out with a career high 6.7 points a game.

After she finished playing professionally, the two-time All-Big Ten selection as an upperclassman at Indiana returned to the school as an assistant coach. Following two seasons there, she spent last season coaching at Austin Peay, and has come, of course, this year to coach the Panthers.

“Definitely [I think she’ll be a good addition],” O’Neil said. “The experience level has just skyrocketed with the addition of Sparks and Barnes, with her being from the WNBA and Indiana and being able to come here and contribute at Eastern.”

O’Neil has said the new coaching of Sparks and Barnes will be good for the youth of the team this year, as both the coaches and the players will have to learn a lot of the new learning curves and have some of the same goals in mind.

Although the team has only had the chance to meet their new coach once, they seem to like what they have seen so far.

“She seems really nice,” senior Amanda Maxedon said. “I think that will help a lot; she knows a lot about the game, so I think she’ll do a good job and bring a lot to the team.”

“She’s a great lady, is very ambitious,” O’Neil said. “I see a lot of great experiences to come.”