John Anthony "Rabbit" Barnhill (March 20, 1938 – November 11, 2013) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. Barnhill, along with Porter Meriwether, led the Evansville Lincoln High School Lions to an undefeated regular season and the city co-championship in 1954–55. Born in

Sturgis, Kentucky Sturgis is a home rule-class city in Union County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 1,898 at the 2010 census. Located in northwest Kentucky, the city was founded in 1890 and named for Samuel Sturgis, who owned the land now occupied b ...

, the 6'1"

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

was raised in

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 118,414 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is Indiana's List of cities in Indiana, third-most populous city after India ...

; he attended

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennes ...

, where he won an NAIA championships in 1957, 1958 and 1959. Barnhill's 1957 TSU Tigers were notable as the first all-black team to win a major American basketball tournament. Meriwether joined him in time for the 1959 title. He finished his career as the #2 scorer (1,253 points) behind

Dick Barnett Richard Barnett (October 2, 1936 – April 27, 2025) was an American professional basketball player who was a shooting guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Syracuse Nationals, Los Angeles Lakers, and New York Knicks. He wo ...

on the all-time TSU scoring list; today, he ranks #18. He was a 3 time NAIA All-American (1957, 1958 and 1959) and helped the Tigers to a 3-year record of 94–8 (.922). After his 1st season with the Pipers, he was selected for an American All-Star that toured the Soviet Union; other members of the U.S. State Department-sponsored team included

Jerry Lucas Jerry Ray Lucas (born March 30, 1940) is an American former basketball player. He was a nationally awarded high school player, national college star at Ohio State University, and 1960 Olympic medal, gold medal Olympian and international player be ...

, Les Lane, Dan Swartz, Ben Warley, Roger Taylor, Jack Adams, Mike Moran, Jerry Shipp, Gary Thompson, Jim Frances and Tom Meschery. From 1962 to 1969, Barnhill played in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

as a member of the

St. Louis Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at S ...

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

, Baltimore Bullets, and

San Diego Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was established in 1967, and pl ...

. He averaged 8.6

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player or team per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of poi ...

in his NBA career. Barnhill later spent time in the rival

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

, mainly as a member of the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

. Additionally, Barnhill was selected in three separate NBA expansion drafts in three consecutive years, 1966 (

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

), 1967 (

), and 1968 (

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

). Following his playing career, Barnhill was an NBA assistant coach for the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

, assisting

Bill Sharman William Walton Sharman (May 25, 1926 – October 25, 2013) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He is mostly known for his time with the Boston Celtics in the 1950s, partnering with Bob Cousy in what was then consider ...

; he acted as the Lakers' interim coach during the 1974–75 season, while Sharman's wife was ill with cancer.

Career statistics

NBA/ABA

Source

Regular season

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;" , - ! Year ! Team ! GP ! MPG ! FG% ! 3P% ! FT% ! RPG ! APG ! PPG , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

, 77 , , 35.0 , , .430 , , , , .710 , , 4.7 , , 4.2 , , 11.7 , - , style="text-align:left";, , style="text-align:left;",

, 74 , , 18.5 , , .412 , , , , .609 , , 2.1 , , 2.0 , , 6.6 , - , style="text-align:left";, , style="text-align:left;",

, 41 , , 19.0 , , .388 , , , , .643 , , 2.2 , , 1.9 , , 7.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 31 , , 22.3 , , .428 , , , , .628 , , 2.9 , , 2.7 , , 8.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, 45 , , 20.6 , , .383 , , , , .602 , , 2.5 , , 2.5 , , 7.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, 53 , , 22.9 , , .418 , , , , .641 , , 3.0 , , 2.6 , , 8.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, 75 , , 25.1 , , .421 , , , , .658 , , 2.3 , , 3.5 , , 9.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 30 , , 16.8 , , .434 , , , , .600 , , 1.8 , , 2.4 , , 6.4 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6fa;", † , style="text-align:left;",

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

(ABA) , 77 , , 30.8 , , .394 , , .261 , , .664 , , 2.2 , , 4.1 , , 11.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

(ABA) , 43 , , 14.4 , , .332 , , .187 , , .689 , , 1.4 , , 1.9 , , 5.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

(ABA) , 24 , , 28.5 , , .396 , , .250 , , .740 , , 2.3 , , 3.2 , , 11.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

(ABA) , 35 , , 25.0 , , .407 , , .256 , , .748 , , 5.5 , , .7 , , 14.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career (NBA) , 426 , , 23.6 , , .416 , , , , .651 , , 2.8 , , 2.8 , , 8.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career (ABA) , 163 , , 23.7 , , .380 , , .236 , , .677 , , 1.9 , , 3.0 , , 8.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career (overall) , 589 , , 23.6 , , .406 , , .236 , , .658 , , 2.5 , , 2.9 , , 8.6

Playoffs

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;" , - ! Year ! Team ! GP ! MPG ! FG% ! 3P% ! FT% ! RPG ! APG ! PPG , - , style="text-align:left;",

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 11 , , 28.5 , , .403 , , , , .682 , , 2.5 , , 3.3 , , 7.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , 12.2 , , .522 , , , , .400 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , 5.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 4 , , 9.0 , , .182 , , , , .500 , , 1.8 , , .5 , , 1.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 1 , , 10.0 , , .500 , , , , – , , 2.0 , , 1.0 , , 2.0 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6fa;",

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

† , style="text-align:left;",

(ABA) , 14 , , 22.6 , , .318 , , .229 , , .512 , , 2.4 , , 1.8 , , 6.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career (NBA) , 21 , , 20.0 , , .407 , , , , .613 , , 2.0 , , 2.1 , , 5.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career (overall) , 35 , , 21.1 , , .368 , , .229 , , .556 , , 2.1 , , 2.0 , , 5.6

Notes

External links

Coaching record
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnhill, John 1938 births 2013 deaths Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players American Basketball League (1961–62) players American men's basketball players Baltimore Bullets (1963–1973) players Chicago Bulls expansion draft picks Cleveland Pipers players Denver Rockets players Detroit Pistons players Indiana Pacers players Phoenix Suns expansion draft picks Point guards San Diego Rockets expansion draft picks San Diego Rockets players Shooting guards Basketball players from Evansville, Indiana St. Louis Hawks draft picks St. Louis Hawks players Tennessee State Tigers basketball players