Barnes, who played at UT in 1994 and later for Pearl, dies at 36

Cortez Barnes, who played one season at Tennessee and later helped UT coach Bruce Pearl win an NCAA Division II basketball championship, died Sunday in a car accident while driving to Wichita, Kan., from his home in Dallas.

Mr. Barnes, 36, was planning to attend an anniversary celebration at Tabernacle Baptist Church, where his father-in-law, Lincoln Montgomery, is the minister.

Mr. Barnes, whose wife, Jamai, was already in Wichita at the time of the accident, had six children.

"It just happened so quick," said Cora Barnes, Mr. Barnes' grandmother, told The Wichita Eagle. "He's got those children. It's just so hard on him.

"... I raised him.... and he was really jolly. He didn't meet a stranger. Such a nice personality. He was a good kid. He was my heart."

Mr. Barnes was a standout basketball player at Heights High School, earning All-City League honors in 1989 and 1990 and was a Wichita Eagle All-State selection in 1990. He ranks 17th in City League scoring with 1,158 points and his teams finished third in Class 6A his junior and senior seasons.

"He was one of my favorite players, top 10, top five," said Goose Doughty, who coached Mr. Barnes at Heights. "He was an outstanding athlete and a good person.... He was a comedian. He'd talk a lot. He used to try to imitate me."

After Heights, Mr. Barnes played at Hutchinson Community College for two years. He then transferred to South Carolina, where he was ruled academically ineligible. Mr. Barnes then played his junior season in 1994 at Tennessee.

Kevin O’Neill kicked Mr. Barnes off the team for arrogantly defying his instructions during a conditioning drill.

He transferred again, this time to Southern Indiana, a Division II school coached by Pearl.

Southern Indiana won the Division II championship in March of 1995. He scored 14 points and had 10 rebounds in the game.

“He was a big-time player from the time he was in high school in Wichita, Kan., and if not for Prop 48, he would have been Roy Williams' first signee at Kansas,'' Pearl said. “He was a connection to Tennessee for me before I made the connection with Tennessee.

“I know he was running a family business successfully, and he really turned out well.''

Mr. Barnes went on to play professional basketball in Sweden.