WVU Sports Hall of Fame

Inducted: 2006

Written by Shelly Poe

A Mountaineer football letterman, a football and basketball coach and professor in the WVU School of Physical Education, W. Quentin Barnette's life was deeply rooted in WVU athletics.

A native of Charleston, W.Va., and a football and track star at Charleston High, Barnette played end and quarterback for WVU from 1940-42. After graduating from WVU as an ROTC cadet, he served in the U.S. Army before returning to the Mountain State as a teacher and coach at Princeton High, leading that team to the 1948 state basketball title.

Barnette returned to WVU in the fall of 1950 and spent a combined 18 years as a coach and professor. As freshman basketball coach from 1951-65, Barnette compiled a 189-39 (.829) record, including undefeated seasons in 1957 and 1960. He helped groom players who would go on to play on some of the most decorated varsity teams in school history for head coaches Red Brown and Fred Schaus. He also coached the freshman football team from 1951-59 as a member of Art "Pappy" Lewis' staff.

Barnette received his master's in education from WVU and was an assistant professor of physical education from 1958-64. He resigned to work for the U.S. Government's Kennedy Youth Center, and later returned to Princeton as a teacher for seven years before retiring. All told, Barnette was a high school and college teacher and coach for 32 years.

Barnette married Alice Jardine the day of WVU's 1942 Homecoming game when the Mountaineers defeated Penn State, 24-0; Barnette served as game captain and was awarded the game ball. His wife passed away in 1988 and he went to live with his daughter Deirdre Trondle and family in Center Moriches, N.Y. Barnette passed away on September 5, 1992, at the age of 72.