Staff Directory

Lexie Barrier

Title:
Assistant Coach
Year As Assistant:
5th
Year At Tennessee:
2nd
Alma Mater (Year):
JMU (2020)

THE BARRIER FILE

Personal Information

Name: Lexie Barrier
Birthday: Dec. 19, 1997
Hometown: Ironton, Ohio
High School: Ironton H.S., 2016
Education: B.S. (Sport & Recreation Management), JMU, 2020; M.Ed. (Adult & Continuing Professional Education), NC State, 2021
Daughter: Alani

Coaching Experience

OVERALL

Years as an assistant (2021-present): 4
Overall record: 88-43
Postseason appearances: 3 (2 NCAA/1 WBIT)
Conference Championships: 1
Conference Tournament Championships: 1

TENNESSEE

Assistant coach (2024-present)
One-year record: 24-10
One postseason appearance (1 NCAA - Sweet 16)
Helped land No. 1 or No. 2 high school signing class in 2025
Helped sign No. 1 transfer portal class in 2025

JMU

Assistant coach (2022-24)
Two-year record: 49-20
Two postseason appearances (1 NCAA / 1 WBIT)
Won 2022-23 Sun Belt regular season and tournament titles

MARSHALL

Assistant coach (2021-22)
One-year record: 15-13
Served as team’s academic liaison
Fourteen of 15 players made C-USA Academic Honor Roll

NC STATE

Graduate manager (2020-21)
One-year record: 22-3
Advanced to NCAA Sweet 16
Team won ACC Championship

COLLEGIATE PLAYING EXPERIENCE

JMU (2016-20)
Three-year starter
1,200-point scorer
2018 & 2019 All-SBC Second Team
2017 SBC All-Rookie Team

Updated: August 2025

WATCH: Getting To Know Lexie Barrier (Part 1) | Getting To Know Lexie Barrier (Part 2)

Lexie Barrier joined Tennessee Athletics in May of 2024, as Kim Caldwell named her an assistant on her first staff as head coach of the Lady Vols. This stop marks the first time during their careers they have worked together, though both previously served coaching stints at Marshall at different times.

Barrier, now in year two in Knoxville, helped UT card a 24-10 overall record and an 8-8 mark in SEC play in 2024-25, notching notable wins over Florida State, Iowa, Ohio State and eventual NCAA champ UConn, the first by UT over the Huskies since 2007 in the interrupted series. The Big Orange advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 and finished the season ranked 15th and 16th, respectively, in the AP and USA TODAY/WBCA Coaches Polls.

Tennessee set school and SEC records in 2024-25 for points (139), three-pointers made (30) and threes attempted (63) vs. N.C. Central on Dec. 14. The treys made also eclipsed NCAA (M/W), NBA and WNBA bests, while the point total ranked fifth in NCAA women’s history. Additionally, UT tallied the most treys made (343) and attempted (1,054) in a season at UT, also setting SEC bests in those areas. UT’s 86.6 points per game stood fourth in school annals and eighth in the SEC record book.

On the recruiting front, Barrier contributed to early success for the staff. The first portal class featured Zee Spearman and Ruby Whitehorn playing lead roles for the 2024-25 squad. UT then signed a 2025 high school class ranked No. 1 or 2 (Mia Pauldo, Deniya Prawl, Jaida Civil, Lauren Hurst, Mya Pauldo) and added the top portal class of 2025 (Janiah Barker, Nya Robertson, Jersey Wolfenbarger), according to ESPN.

Prior to joining the Big Orange, Barrier spent the previous two seasons as an assistant at James Madison University. While coaching at her alma mater, she helped the Dukes to a pair of 23+ win seasons, forging a 49-20 overall record and 26-10 mark in the Sun Belt Conference during that time. The program made two postseason appearances and picked up two pieces of SBC hardware along the way.

In 2023-24, she helped guide the Dukes to a 23-12 overall record and a 13-5 effort in league play, highlighted by the program’s second consecutive trip to the Sun Belt Conference Women’s Basketball Championship game. JMU, which lost in the SBC Tourney title match-up, 95-92 in overtime, to Caldwell’s Marshall club, made its second-straight postseason tournament appearance. It earned an at-large bid to the newly-formed Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament, falling to Stony Brook in the opening round.

That Dukes squad finished first in Division I in defensive rebounds per game (32.3), second in rebounds per game (47.49), fifth in rebound margin (+11.3), ninth in bench points per game (27.8) and 12th in field goal percentage defense (.361) for the 2023-24 campaign.

In 2022-23, the Dukes went 26-8 overall and 13-5 in conference games, tying for first in the SBC during the regular season and capturing the SBC Tournament Championship title to earn an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. That JMU unit led the league in scoring margin (+8.8), opponent field goal percentage (.361), opponent three-point percentage (.286), and rebounding margin (+8.1).

Prior to her move back to Harrisonburg, Barrier spent a year at Marshall, working alongside current UT assistant Jenna Burdette during the 2021-22 campaign. During her time with the Thundering Herd, Barrier acted as the recruiting coordinator, assisted in player development and served as the academic liaison for players.

In Barrier’s lone season in Huntington, the Herd finished the year with a 15-13 record (10-8 C-USA). Marshall capped the regular season with two big victories over WKU. The squad set a program record for the fewest turnovers per game at just 12.7, which led the league and ranked 22nd in the nation. Marshall also led C-USA in fewest total turnovers (355), which ranked ninth in the NCAA.

Marshall flourished in the classroom as well in 2021-22, as 14-of-15 players were honored on the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll, three received the Academic Medal for a GPA of 3.75 or better, and the Herd’s team GPA for the academic year was 3.49.

Before her stint at Marshall, Barrier served as a graduate manager at NC State during the 2020-21 season, earning an MBA in adult and continuing professional education from the school in 2021. The Wolfpack ranked seventh nationally in the final USA Today Coaches Poll to end the year in the top 10 for the third-straight season. That came as a result of a 22-3 record, second-consecutive ACC title and a third NCAA Sweet 16 appearance in a row. NC State spent every week of the season in the top 10 of the coaches poll, which included three-straight weeks at No. 2.

As a player at JMU, Barrier started 96 of 127 games played, racking up 1,216 points and tying for 21st in program history. She also added 497 rebounds, 236 assists, 126 steals and 129 three-pointers in her career. She finished with cumulative averages of 9.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists and posted a career-high 24 points against Northwestern in her junior season.

She collected All-Colonial Athletic Association Second Team honors in 2017-18 and 2018-19 as well as a spot on the CAA All-Rookie squad following the 2016-17 season. The Ironton, Ohio, native graduated from JMU in May 2020 with a bachelor's degree in sport & recreation management.

Barrier, who was blessed by the arrival of daughter Alani in February 2024, launched her playing career at Ironton High School and left the program as its all-time leading scorer. She was voted Southeast Ohio AP District Player of the Year and the 2016 All-Ohio Division III Co-Player of the Year while earning all-state honors as a junior and senior.