Former Ole Miss head coach Barnes joins Capel's staff at Oklahoma

From wire and staff reports

NORMAN, Okla. -- Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel hired former Mississippi coach Rod Barnes and former South Carolina State coach Ben Betts on Tuesday to complete his staff.

Barnes, 40, was 141-109 in eight seasons at Mississippi and took the Rebels to the NCAA tournament three of his first four seasons at his alma mater. He was fired in March, near the end of the Rebels' fourth consecutive losing season.

"I've always had a lot of respect for Coach Barnes," Capel said. "When I was at VCU I had the opportunity to coach against him and his teams were always very good defensively. They got after you, they were tough, they were disciplined and they played with passion. I respected the way his teams played. I feel like this is a great hire for OU."

Barnes was one of three finalists this year for the head coaching job at Southeast Missouri State, which hired Scott Edgar.