River Ridge hires Ex-Evergreen men's coach John Barbee to lead boys basketball program

Former Evergreen men's basketball coach John Barbee, who built the Geoducks into a national-caliber program in the early 2000s, has been hired as River Ridge High School's new boys basketball coach, athletic director Gary Larson announced Tuesday.

Barbee spent eight seasons as the Geoducks' coach from 1997-2005 with a collegiate career win-loss record of 112-112. In 2002, Barbee was the Cascade Collegiate Conference's coach of the year after leading Evergreen to a 25-6 overall record, a NAIA national tournament appearance, and a No. 6 national ranking. Since Evergreen, Barbee coached at two high schools -- Foster (boys) from 2006-'09 and Kennedy (girls) the past two seasons.

Barbee replaces Jeremy Landram, who resigned earlier this summer after posting a 106-46 record in six seasons. Barbee takes over a River Ridge program that has won or shared the 2A Evergreen Conference title the past five seasons, and won the past four District IV titles.