Belmont Mourns the Passing of Robert Barnes

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - Belmont University Athletics mourns the passing of Robert Barnes ('56), who passed away Sunday at the age of 91.
 
Barnes was a founding father of Belmont men's basketball in the fall of 1952, a four-year letterwinner who helped jumpstart the Belmont program.
 
The Alabama native developed into a one of the most dominant post players in college basketball.
 
Barnes was a two-time national Chuck Taylor All-American and became Belmont's first conference player of the year – the 1956 Volunteer State Athletic Conference (VSAC) Player of the Year.
 
The forward ranked fourth nationally in scoring as a sophomore and sixth nationally as a junior.
 
He led the nation in free throws made (301) in 1955.
 
On February 26, 1954 in Nashville, Barnes scored a career-high 54 points vs. Athens College (AL) in the season finale, a Belmont single-game record that stood for 35 years.
 
Later that December, Barnes would lead Belmont in a showcase meeting of All-America post players, facing Wake Forest and ACC legend Dickie Hemric. Barnes scored a game-high 37 points while holding Hemric to 15 points.
 
Barnes ranks third on Belmont's all-time scoring list with 2,305 points – in only three seasons as he played on the freshman team in 1953 - and holds school records for career scoring average (28.2), career free throws made (741), and free throws made in a season (301).
 
He also ranks second in career rebounding average (13.7).
 
Known as The Rock to his teammates and coaches, Barnes' No. 15 is one of only three Belmont men's basketball jerseys to be retired.
 
Barnes was honored at the 2018 Ohio Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament as an OVC legend.
 
Barnes earned his bachelor's degree in physical education with a minor in biology.
 
Following graduation, Barnes returned to his native Alabama, where he worked and retired as executive vice president of Nelson-Brantley Glass Co. in Birmingham before moving to nearby Montgomery.
 
He is a nominee for induction into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.
 
Arrangements have not been announced at this time.