Bowling Green State University head men’s basketball coach Chris Jans has completed his coaching staff with the addition of Corey Barker. Barker will join David Ragland and Mark Downey as the three assistant coaches for Coach Jans, who was named the 16th men’s basketball head coach in BGSU history in March.
"I am thrilled to add Corey Barker to our team of coaches. Coach Barker has a track record of building relationships with young people and mentoring them as they grow and mature both on and off the floor," commented Coach Jans. Corey has been associated with winning basketball programs and will add to our overall development as a program."
Barker comes to BGSU after serving as a member of the Arkansas State University men’s basketball coaching staff for each of the past two seasons. In his two years on the bench at Arkansas State, the Red Wolves posted back-to-back 19 win seasons and totaled 38 wins overall.
The Red Wolves also advanced to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Championship Tournament in both 2012-13 and 2013-14.
"I am extremely excited about joining Coach Jans and the staff at BGSU," commented Barker. "I love the passion that all the coaches have towards recruiting and winning at a high level. I feel like we can do something special here at BGSU."
A-State’s 19 victories in 2013-14 matched the 2012-13 team’s wins output and tied for the program’s highest single-season win total since the 1997-98 campaign when the Red Wolves went 20-9. The last time A-State registered back-to-back 19 victories or more was 1986-89 when the Red Wolves compiled a 21-13 record in 1986-87, a 21-14 mark in 1987-88, and a 20-10 ledger in 1988-89.
At A-State, Barker helped to tutor Kirk Van Slyke and Melvin Johnson III. Van Slyke was named to the 2013-14 Sun Belt All-Conference Second-Team and was named to both the all-league second-team by College Sports Madness and to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District 24 First-Team. He was also a recipient of a SBC Academic Honor Roll Award, while Johnson III garnered third-team all-conference accolades and was also chosen as a College Sports Madness all-conference third-team performer.
In his first year at Arkansas State in 2012-13, Barker coached Brandon Peterson and Trey Finn who were named to the All-Sun Belt Conference Second and Third-Teams, respectively.
Barker arrived at A-State in June 2012 after spending the 2011-12 season as an assistant coach at Paris (Texas) Junior College where he helped lead the Blazers to a 23-6 overall record and to a Region XIV Zone Conference Championship Title. While at Paris JC, Barker’s responsibilities included recruiting and player development.
Prior to his coaching stint at Paris JC, Barker served as an assistant for the 2010-11 campaign at North Forest High School in Houston, Texas. Barker played a key role in helping NFHS improve its season wins total to 22 overall compared to just 13 wins in the previous 2009-10 season. From 2005-10, Barker was an assistant coach at Humble Christian Life Center Academy in Humble, Texas where he recruited and coached some of the nation’s top players such as Augustine Rubit (South Alabama), Latavious Williams (NBA draft pick-Miami), Junior Cadougan (Marquette) and Kourtney Roberson (Texas A&M). Barker handled film breakdown, practice organization and player evaluation along with directing preseason and off-season individual workouts.
A native of Houston, Texas, Barker graduated from Prairie View A&M University in 2003 with a degree in Kinesiology. He helped lead the Panthers to their first conference title since 1962. Following his playing career, Barker served as a graduate assistant at Prairie View A&M under former head coach Jerome Francis.
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