One of college basketball’s most decorated coaches, Tony Barbee joins the UIW staff as an Assistant Coach in 2025-26.
Barbee comes from San Antonio from Central Michigan, where he was the program’s 21st head coach and led the Chippewas to a 49-75 record over his four seasons in Mount Pleasant. While at CMU, Barbee was named the 2023-24 Mid-American Conference Coach of the year and 2023-24 NABC District 14 Coach of the Year. During that season, Barbee and the Chippewas challenged for a Mid-American Conference title and finished in fourth place with a 12-6 league record in 2023-24. CMU’s 12 league victories were the most since the 2014-15 season.
A two-time league coach of the year honoree, Barbee arrived at CMU from Kentucky where he spent seven seasons as a member of Hall of Fame coach John Calipari's staff. Barbee's career includes head coaching experience at Central Michigan, Auburn, and UTEP. At UTEP, he was named the Conference USA Coach of the Year after leading the Miners to a conference regular-season title and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2010.
During his tenure at Kentucky, Barbee served in three roles: associate to the head coach (2020-21), assistant coach (2015-20) and special assistant to the head coach (2014-15). He helped Kentucky win four Southeastern Conference regular-season championships and four SEC Tournament titles, and the Wildcats made five NCAA Tournament appearances including a Final Four berth in 2015.
Barbee also helped the Wildcats secure a top-three nationally ranked recruiting class every season he was with the program, including the nation's top class in 2016, 2017 and 2020. He coached 13 NBA Draft selections at Kentucky, including 10 first-round picks and eight players taken in the lottery.
Barbee's four-year tenure as the head coach at UTEP saw the Miners increase their win total each season and average 20.5 victories per year. In 2009-10, UTEP finished 26-7, including 15-1 in C-USA play, winning their first regular-season league title in six years and earning an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.
Barbee played for Calipari from 1989-93 at Massachusetts, where he was part of teams that won back-to-back Atlantic 10 regular season and tournament championships in 1992 and 1993. The Minutemen earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament both years and advanced to the Sweet 16 in 1992. Barbee earned All-Atlantic 10 second team honors in 1991 and 1993 and was an all-conference freshman team selection in 1990. UMass went 91-39 during his time with the program. He was inducted into the UMass Athletic Hall of Fame in 2013.
Barbee also had coaching stints at Massachusetts, Wyoming and Memphis before becoming a head coach. He began as a graduate assistant at UMass (1995-98) before landing his first assistant job at Wyoming in 1998-99. He returned to UMass for one year and then went to Memphis, where he coached from 2001-06.
During Barbee's six seasons in Memphis, the Tigers won 148 games, two C-USA titles and made three trips to the NCAA Tournament including an Elite Eight appearance in 2006. Memphis boasted six consecutive top-10 nationally ranked recruiting classes; the 2001 class was ranked No. 1 in the country.
The Indianapolis native earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in sports management and a minor in African-American studies from UMass in 1993. He played professionally in Spain and France before turning to coaching.
Barbee and his wife, Holly, have a daughter, Hayden, and a son, Andrew, who plays for the UIW basketball team.
