Eric Henderson is beginning to put together his coaching staff.
The Drake basketball head coach is bringing three coaches with him from South Dakota State: Rob Klinkefus, Tramel Barnes and Billy Brown. Klinkefus comes to Des Moines with nearly two decades of experience with the Jackrabbits, while Barnes returned to Henderson’s staff ahead of last season. Brown spent the previous five seasons at South Dakota State.
Drake plans to formally introduce Henderson at a press conference on Monday. Since announcing his hiring on Mar. 28, Henderson added two players and three coaches to his roster.
Get to know the newest members of the Bulldogs’ basketball coaching staff.
Rob Klinkefus comes to Drake basketball after nearly two decades at South Dakota State
Klinkefus follows Henderson from South Dakota State, departing for Des Moines after 19 seasons with the Jackrabbits. He spent the last six seasons as associate head coach.
He entered last season as one of the most tenured coaches in Division I basketball. Klinkefus was the eighth-most tenured assistant, being a part of nine Summit League regular season titles and seven conference tournament championships.
During his time at South Dakota State, the Jackrabbits compiled a 300-129 overall record and played in 10 postseason tournaments – including trips to the NCAA Tournament in 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022 and 2024.
One of South Dakota State’s leading recruiters, Klinkefus coached All-Americans Nate Wolters and Mike Daum. He works mostly with the frontcourt, most recently pushing William Kyle to the Summit League’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2024.
This will mark Klinkefus’ return to Drake, where he graduated from in 2004 with a master’s degree in education.
Tramel Barnes to join Drake staff after stops at South Dakota State, Utah, Utah State
Barnes joins the Bulldogs staff after returning to South Dakota State for one season. He served as an assistant coach from 2019-21 during Henderson’s first two seasons as head coach. He played an instrumental role in developing Baylor Scheierman and Douglas Wilson, who both earned Summit League Player of the Year honors.
Before returning to South Dakota State ahead of the 2024-25 season, Barnes spent three years on Craig Smith’s staff at Utah. He served as the director of player personnel and as an assistant coach.
The National Association of Basketball Coaches named Barnes to the Under Armour 30-Under-30 team in 2019 when he coached at Utah State.
Billy Brown returns to Iowa
Brown spent the previous five years at South Dakota State, serving first as the director of player development and as a graduate assistant before taking on the role of assistant coach.
During his time in South Dakota, two Jackrabbits players – Scheierman and Zeke Mayo – earned Summit League Player of the Year honors.
A native of Spirit Lake, Iowa, Brown played college basketball at North Dakota. In his senior season at Spirit Lake, he ranked fourth among all Class 3A players with 21.7 points per game and first in assists with 5.6 per game.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register:
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