Barnes returns to Upstate for Potential Youth Foundation

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September 19, 2007

Former Clemson men's basketball coach Rick Barnes returned to the Upstate last night for the first time since resigning in 1998 to take over as the head man at the University of Texas, and said he was sorry it taken so long to make the trip.

Barnes was in town at the Carolina First Center as the keynote speaker in an event sponsored by the Potential Youth Foundation, a non-profit organization that focuses on disadvantaged and at-risk youth in Greenville County, providing them with growth through sports and education.

Barnes spoke to the youth at the Carolina First Center, and is the first of four coaches that will make the trek to the Upstate for the foundation in coming months. Up next is Michigan head football coach Lloyd Carr in November.

"The state of South Carolina and Clemson have both been a huge part of my life," Barnes said. "Being the head coach at Clemson, at that time in my life, was a good thing, and I enjoyed my four years there. I was driving and noticed that this is a beautiful place and I realized how good my time was here. 

"Being in the state, you develop ties that are everlasting and this is where I met Greg (Blatt, former Presbyterian head coach and director of development for the Foundation), and when he called me and talked about what he was doing, I was happy to do it. To have a chance to come back to South Carolina, a place that was goof to me, and help the foundation, was a decision that was easy."

The foundation is hoping to raise $250,000 to help promote sports and education with disadvantaged youth, including building a computer center with 12 computers at the foundation's gym at the Donaldson Center. 

"There is always a message you want to spread, and you want it to be positive," Barnes said. "You want kids to chase their dream, and help them understand that it won't just be handed to them. That if you believe in it strong enough and you're willing to persevere and work hard, it will happen. I am still a believer in the American dream."

​By: David Hood -- Greenville News