Posted on: Thursday, May 12, 2005

Barnett says it was time to go

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

Former Hawai'i Pacific athletic director and men's basketball coach J.D. Barnett said the "timing was right" for him to retire this week after less than one year at the school.

Barnett, 61, said he decided to retire over the weekend for family reasons.

"It was a very tough decision," Barnett said yesterday. "I love Hawai'i. It's just that all my family is in Missouri, Arkansas or Louisiana.

"I tried to weigh the options in what was going to bring me satisfaction and happiness. I just felt like this was, at this point, the best thing to do."

Barnett's retirement comes following a 10-16 basketball season, and a week after the school announced the signing of six basketball recruits.

"It seemed like the timing was right," said Barnett, whose daughter recently gave birth to a girl, and his son-in-law just returned from military duty in Iraq. "We had a good recruiting class. It just seemed like the right time."

Jill Ward, HPU's associate athletic director of compliance and business administration, was named interim athletic director. Kelly Wells, HPU's assistant athletic director and assistant men's basketball coach, has been named head basketball coach.

Ward, 31, joined HPU last year as an athletics consultant and an adjunct math professor. She became a permanent hire by HPU's athletic department in March.

Ward earned her Ph.D. in 2000 at Loyola University in Chicago, where she also was an assistant women's basketball coach. She was the Assistant Director of Membership Services at the NCAA national office from 2001-2002, and later served as associate director of membership services from 2002-2004. Prior to that, she was compliance assistant at Northwestern.

Ward said HPU plans to hire head coaches for baseball and the men's and women's tennis teams as early as next week.

Wells, 34, is the 2003 National Federation Coach of the Year, and Kentucky High School Coach of the Year in 2003 and 2004. He was a player under Barnett at the University of Tulsa. This is Wells' first college head coaching position.

Reach Brandon Masuoka at bmasuoka@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2458.