Luke Barnwell

Luke Barnwell is entering his second season as an assistant coach with the University of Iowa men’s basketball program.  

Barnwell has 15 years of coaching experience, spending two seasons as an assistant coach at Texas Tech and 10 seasons as head coach at Sunrise Christian Academy where he was named the 2021 and 2022 Naismith High School Boys Coach of the Year and led the team to the 2022 National Interscholastic Basketball Conference Championships.

During his first season in Iowa City, Barnwell guided the Hawkeyes to the program's first Elite Eight appearance in 39 years and first Sweet 16 since 1999. No. 9 seed Iowa downed three higher seeded teams -- No. 8 Clemson, No. 1 Florida and No. 4 Nebraska.  The Hawkeyes led their South Region title game with seven minutes remaining with a Final Four spot on the line.

Iowa's 73-72 win over top-seeded Florida gave the Hawkeyes their second win all-time against the defending national champion. Iowa became the ninth No. 9 seed to knock off a No. 1 seed and the sixth nine seed all-time to advance to the Elite Eight.

The Hawkeyes finished the 2025-26 season with a 24-13 overall record with the 24 victories being tied for the fifth-most in a single season in program history.  The team finished the season ranked 15th in the final Associated Press rankings.  

Iowa, which had 12 transfers among its 14-player roster, won three NCAA Tournament games in 2026; the program had four NCAA Tournament wins in the previous 24 seasons.

Senior guard Bennett Stirtz, who made the jump from Northwest Missouri State to Drake to Iowa City, was as good as advertised. Stirtz earned honorable mention All-America honors by The Associated Press and USBWA and first-team All-Big Ten honors by the media after averging 19.8 points, 4.4 assists and 2.6 rebounds.  He played 40 or more minutes 17 times during the season and finished with a program record 1,396 minutes.

Stirtz went from a second-team All-MIAA selection at the Division II level to an All-American in the Big Ten.  He was the only player in the nation to have 730+ points, 160+ assists, 95+ rebounds, 90+ 3-poiners and 50+ steals and he became one of three Power Conference players all-time to put up those numbers.

Stirtz became the first Hawkeye with 700+ points, 100+ assists and 50+ steals and the third Hawkeye to score 700+ points.  His 734 points were the fourth-most in a single season in Iowa history.

Barnwell made the move back to the Midwest following a two-year stint in Lubbock, where he helped lead the Red Raiders to a 51-20 record and two trips to the NCAA Tournament.  Texas Tech advanced to the Elite Eight in his second season, finishing the year with a 28-9 overall record along with a 15-5 mark in Big 12 play.

The Red Raiders were in the Associated Press Top 10 for the final five weeks of the season and finished the year with the third-most wins in program history.

Along with the team success in year two, Barnwell helped develop JT Toppin, Darrion Williams and Chance McMillian -- all three of which earned multiple postseason honors.  Toppin was an All-American while also being named the Big 12 Player of the Year, Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and to the All-Big 12 first team.

Barnwell helped to Texas Tech to the 2024 NCAA Tournament and a 23-win season in his first year. The team tied for third in the Big 12 standings and advanced to the semifinals of the 2024 Big 12 Championship.

Barnwell spent his final eight seasons leading the Sunrise Christian Elite team where he compiled a 178-28 record competing against the elite basketball programs across the country.  He led SCA to five consecutive GEICO Nationals and coached more than 75 NCAA Division I players and worked with six NBA players.

His team was ranked No. 1 throughout the 2022 season and won the inaugural NIBC. The program once again advanced to the final four of the GEICO High School National Tournament in 2023 with an upset of the top seed. He coached NBA players Kennedy Chandler, Kendall Brown, Gradey Dick and Ochai Agbaji and helped train Buddy Hield and Ron Baker.

Barnwell began his time at SCA as the head coach of the post-grad basketball team where he led the program to a 41-13 record from 2012-15. He earned Midwest Prep Coach of the Year in 2015 and helped 13 players advance to NCAA Division I programs.

Barnwell gained coaching experience within the Mokan Nike Elite program where he was the head coach of Mokan 17U Select in 2014 and Mokan 15U Elite in 2015. He also assisted Mokan programs from 2016-18.

A native of Emporia, Kansas, Barnwell played college basketball at Newman University and Emporia State before beginning his coaching career as a student assistant. 

Barnwell earned his bachelor’s degree in sports communications with an emphasis in coaching from Newman University in 2013.   He and his wife, Emily, have a daughter, Keylynn with a second daugther on the way in May, 2026.

Career
2012-15	Head Coach Post Grad, Sunrise Christian Academy
2015-23	Head Coach Elite, Sunrise Christian Academy
2023-25	Assistant Coach, Texas Tech
2025-pres.	Assistant Coach, University of Iowa