Inside The Panthers

Former Pitt AD Named to NCAA Tournament Selection Committee

Former Pitt Panthers athletic director Scott Barnes will help shape the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

Stephen Thompson

Former Pitt AD Named to NCAA Tournament Selection Committee
Former Pitt AD Named to NCAA Tournament Selection Committee /
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PITTSBURGH -- Former Pitt Panthers athletic director Scott Barnes will be heavily involved with the coming 2024 NCAA Tournament after he was named to the NCAA Men's Basketball Committee this week. 

This is Barnes' second stint on the committee, with his first term having begun in 2013 and lasted through the end of his two-year tenure at Pitt. 

"The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Committee is responsible for selecting, seeding and bracketing the field for the NCAA Tournament," according to the NCAA's official website. "School and conference administrators are nominated by their conference, serve five-year terms and represent a cross-section of the Division I membership."

Barnes has served on multiple NCAA and conference committees during an extensive career in college athletics administration. During his short time in the Steel City, he made a lasting impact with the hire of head football coach Pat Narduzzi. He also helped oversee the very early stages of Pitt's rebranding process as the school moved back to the old Pitt script following two decades of block letters serving as the primary logo. 

But Barnes' legacy at Pitt, especially as it relates to the men's basketball program, is memorable but not necessarily positive. He made the now infamous decision to hire former Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings to replace Jamie Dixon when he left for his alma mater at TCU. 

Fans and local media questioned the quality of the hire from a basketball perspective but also voiced concerns about Barnes' use of College Sports Associates, a search firm founded by former UConn, NC State, Washington and Vanderbilt athletic director Todd Turner. Turner hired Stallings at Vanderbilt and worked with Barnes at Washington. 

Barnes defended his retention of College Sports Associates during Pitt's head coaching search at Stallings' introductory press conference. 

“Todd Turner’s connection, I worked for Todd Turner at Washington; I’ve used Todd Turner several times for searches,” Barnes said. “You get familiar with folks that you use and that do a great job that are excellent. That’s exactly what we did to move this forward.”

The marriage between Stallings and Pitt ended after just two seasons, during which the Panthers went 24-41, including a 4-32 record in ACC play. Stallings' record is forever marred by the landmark 0-18 ACC record his team amassed during the 2017-18 season. 

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Stephen Thompson
STEPHEN THOMPSON

Stephen Thompson graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from Pitt in April 2022 after spending four years as a sports writer and editor at The Pitt News, the University of Pittsburgh's independent, student-run newspaper.  He primarily worked the Pitt men's basketball beat, and filled in on coverage of football, volleyball, softball, gymnastics and lacrosse, in addition to other sports as needed. His work at The Pitt News has won awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association and Associated College Press.  During the spring and summer of 2021, Stephen interned for Pittsburgh Sports Now, covering baseball in western Pennsylvania. Hailing from Washington D.C., family ties have cultivated a love of Boston's professional teams and Pitt athletics, and a fascination with sports in general.  You can reach Stephen by email at stephenethompson00@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter. Read his latest work:

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