Utah Basketball HC Craig Smith Hires Tramel Barnes As Director Of Player Personnel

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Utah men’s basketball head coach Craig Smith announced that he has hired Tramel Barnes as the Director of Player Personnel.

Craig Smith has reunited with Tramel Barnes after he spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach at South Dakota State. Barnes was the Director of Basketball Operations and Player Development under Smith at Utah State from 2018-19.

“Tramel has been part of winning everywhere he’s been and that’s not an accident,” said Smith. “He’s relationship driven and leaves a positive impression on everyone he comes in contact with. He has a wealth of experience from both the administrative and basketball aspect. We couldn’t be more thrilled and excited to have him join our Runnin’ Utes basketball family.”

Ute Fans, please help us welcome our Director of Player Personnel, @TramelBarnes to SLC!

📰 https://t.co/JFrZPfFIPb #GoUtes pic.twitter.com/jXdpkapYyj

— Utah Basketball🏀 (@UtahMBB) May 18, 2021

In two seasons with the Jackrabbits, Barnes helped the program to back-to-back Summit League regular season titles and a 38-17 record during those two years. Barnes coached to players that earned all-league honors in Baylor Scheierman and Douglas Wilson.

This past season, South Dakota State went 22-10 overall and 13-3 in Summit League action. For his efforts with the Jackrabbits, Barnes was named a Top 50 Impactful Mid-Major Assistant by Silver Waves Media in May 2020.

While in Logan with Craig Smith, Barnes was the Director of Basketball Operations and Player Development during Smith’s first season at Utah State. The Aggies won the Mountain West regular season and tournament championships.

Before his time in Logan, Barnes spent six years at Southwest Minnesota State, serving as an assistant coach after starting as a graduate assistant.

Craig Smith’s staff should be full now as he has hired three assistants in DeMarlo Slocum, Eric Peterson and Tim Morris. Curran Walsh is the Director of Basketball Operations. Justin Johnson is the special assistant to the head coach. Brandon Ubel is the Director of Scouting and Logan Ogden is the Strength and Conditioning Coach.

Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for KSLSports.com and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports. You can download and listen to the podcast, here.