Octavia Barnes joined the Bobcats in April of 2025 as an assistant coach.
Barnes joined the staff after serving as the Coordinator of Player Development for the last three seasons at Houston with their women's basketball program. Prior to that she completed her playing career for the Houston Cougars in the 2018-2019 season.
The former Cougar finished her playing career in Houston, finishing the 2017-18 season as the Cougars’ fifth-leading scorer and 2018-19 season as the fourth-leading scorer. Her teams made back-to-back WNIT appearances as a player.
During her time coaching at Houston, Barnes oversaw mentoring and motivating athletes by breaking down film and creating specific workout plans. Barnes helped in the development of guard Laila Blair to earn First Team All-American Athletic Conference Honors (2022-23) and All-Big 12 Honorable Mention Honors (2023-24) for the Cougars. Barnes also helped in the promotion and organization of summer camps hosted by the team.
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