COLUMBIA, MD - Howard Community College Associate Vice President of Athletics Mike Smelkinson has announced that Eryn Barnes will step down as head women's basketball coach and student-athlete academic success coordinator. Coach Barnes will leave as the winningest women's basketball head coach in program history with five consecutive seasons of 15+ wins.
 
"Coach Barnes has been a key part of the Howard CC athletics department for over a decade," said Smelkinson. "She has done so much to progress the women's basketball program and the entire athletics team and her loss will be felt around here. We wish her all the best going forward and she will forever be a Dragon."
 
Barnes first joined the Dragons in 2012 as an assistant coach, eventually becoming associate head coach in 2017. Prior to HCC, she served as an assistant coach at CCBC Dundalk and director of basketball operations at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. In 2020, she was named interim head coach of the Dragons and later became outright head coach for the 2021-22 season.
 
During her tenure as head coach, Barnes had just one losing season and led the Dragons to the playoffs all five years. Her teams won a combined 80 games during this span, giving her one of the best winning percentages among NJCAA Region 20 women's basketball coaches. The program made three consecutive Region 20 semifinal appearances from 2022-24 and Barnes was named Maryland Junior College Conference coach of the year in 2022.
 
Barnes led the Dragons through a difficult transition, with the fledgling program struggling in the years before her arrival. She immediately had an impact to bring student-athletes and wins to the program. During her tenure, HCC demolished their old athletic center and opened the Kahlert Foundation Complex. She provided stability to the program during the two seasons of road games while the new gym was under construction, and her teams during those two seasons finished with records of 18-8 and 16-8.
 
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world, Barnes was able to keep the program going strong, practicing outdoors in parking lots just to keep the team playing basketball. Her steadfastness towards improvement and a strong work ethic inspired the program to greater heights and set the foundation for future success.
 
Along with coaching, Barnes has served as student-athlete academic success coordinator since 2022, helping the Howard CC student-athletes academically to succeed in the classroom.
 
A national search for a new women's head basketball coach is underway.