Don Barnes - Inducted 2024

A 1962 graduate of Notre Dame High School in Mitchell and a 1970 graduate of USD, Barnes is arguably South Dakota’s greatest tennis coach and one of its longest-tenured high school coaches, regardless of sport. His tenure with the Sioux Falls O’Gorman boys’ and girls’ tennis teams is marked by extraordinary achievements, including over 1,000 victories, 20 team state titles, 19 team state runner-up finishes, 30 Flight 1 singles state titles, and 21 Flight 1 doubles state titles.

Barnes initially coached O’Gorman tennis from 1972 to 1980 before entering private business. He returned to coaching in 1996 and retired in the spring of 2023. His excellence was recognized nationally when he was named the national boys’ tennis coach of the year in 2005 and the national girls’ coach of the year in 2023.

Barnes began his coaching career in Woonsocket in 1970. In his first year, he led the boys’ basketball team to the 1971 State B tournament, their first appearance since 1939, and established a boys’ tennis team that competed well against the state’s largest schools in the one-class tennis system. He also served as the city tennis director for Sioux Falls for several summers.

As a high school athlete, Barnes excelled in football, basketball, and baseball. He lettered as a college baseball catcher for the Cornhuskers at the University of Nebraska before transferring to the University of South Dakota, where he played basketball for the Coyotes. Barnes is a member of the South Dakota Tennis Association, the South Dakota High School Coaches Association, and the O’Gorman Halls of Fame.