Jan. 24, 2012

CLEVELAND – The John McLendon Minority Scholarship Foundation, in partnership with the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) is proud to announce that United States Olympic Committee (USOC) Sport Performance Team Leader Wes Barnett will be inducted into the John McLendon Minority Athletics Administrators Hall of Fame as the USOC’s representative on the evening of June 27.  The induction ceremony will be held in conjunction with the 47^th Annual NACDA Convention at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Texas.

Barnett is a two-time U.S. Olympic Team Member ('92, '96) in the sport of weightlifting. Barnett reigned over the U.S. heavyweight division of USA Weightlifting for 10 years, eight of those years as National Champion. Among those was a 1999 U.S. title that came just six months after returning to the sport following a bout with cancer. He finished 13th at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona and followed that up with a sixth-place finish at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta which currently stands as the highest finish for an American male athlete since 1988.

Barnett, who has always been a staunch advocate for drug-free sport, began his career at the US Olympic Committee in 1997, while still an athlete, working in the USOC’s Drug Control Administration. In 2000 after Barnett finished competing, he was hired by the US Olympic Committee in the Sport Partnership division. Working as a Sport Manager, he served as the point of contact between the USOC and the sport National Governing Bodies (NGBs) for nine Olympic and Pan American sports. His job was to develop rapport and credibility with the NGBs while negotiating and supporting customized performance agreements which identified mutual accountabilities for both entities.

In 2002 Barnett became the Executive Director for the US Weightlifting Federation. As the first Olympian and minority to hold the post, he exercised general management and oversight for the organization, while overseeing all aspects of the organizations resource allocation process which included both financial and non-financial resources to athletes, coaches and clubs.

In 2006 Barnett returned to the United States Olympic Committee where he currently works as the Team Leader for team sports in the summer Olympic, Paralympic and Pan American Games programs. He oversees the administration of the sports from a financial and organizational perspective, where he is responsible for the distribution of resources to maximize impact on performance.

Barnett earned his Bachelor's degree in media management and broadcasting from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs in 1994.

Previous USOC recipients include:
2010:  Rafer Johnson - 1960 Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon and current chairman for the board of directors of the Southern California Special Olympics

2009: Anita DeFrantz - USOC
former president of the International Olympic Committee

2007: LeRoy Walker - First African-American President of the NAIA and USOC

About the John McLendon Minority Postgraduate Scholarship Program: The John McLendon Minority Postgraduate Scholarship Awards are presented to senior-level minority students who intend to pursue a graduate degree in athletics administration. If you have any questions regarding this program, please visit www.mclendonminorityfoundation.com.