Bio

Head Women’s Basketball Coach Linnae Barber took over the helm of the Owls for the 2016-17 season after previously serving as Citrus’ assistant coach.

During the 2015-2016 season, Barber helped lead the Owls to their first post-season appearance in seven years. In 2016-17, the Owls showed great improvements throughout the year, with the bulk of the team's wins coming in the last half of the season. In 2017-2018, Barber doubled her wins and concluded the season with an overall record of 14-14.

Since her first season, Barber has increased her wins by 36-percent. She has implemented a system of being “More Than” and the philosophy behind her business DreamFaceBelieve OWN It! Follow your dreams, face you, believe in your soul, and OWN IT! The 2018-2019 has been a testimony of the execution of her teachings, with her best record yet of 18-11. 

Barber came to the Owls after having spent seven seasons as an assistant coach at one of the most respected women’s basketball programs at the community college level in College of the Canyons. While with the Cougars, Canyons won six straight WSC South titles from 2007-2012, and were consistently ranked in the State Top 20. During the 2012-2013 season, Barber took a break from the CCCAA and accepted a position at the University of Hawaii. That year the Rainbow Wahine finished third in a tough Big West Conference and were invited and competed in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT). Barber returned to Canyons for the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 seasons.

Barber started her playing career at the community college level, playing two seasons for Canyons, earning first-team All-WSC South honors and helping lead the Cougars to the WSC South Championship as a sophomore. After Canyons, Barber went on to earn a scholarship at Texas A & M University, Kingsville where she lettered two seasons and earned a bachelor of science degree in human development and family studies. Coach Barber earned her master of arts degree in psychology with an emphasis in sport-exercise psychology.

Along with her work on the sidelines, Barber brings a wealth of talents as she also serves as a motivational speaker, sports life coach, fitness instructor (certified in boxing, spin, and TRX), and an executive director of a non-profit organization, More Than Basketball. She also is fluent in American Sign Language and is active in the community and has served over but not limited to the following: fed 100 homeless in the city of San Bernardino, donated clothes and tablets to Haiti, and more.