Marty Barnes graduated from Highland High School in 1968. He attended John Brown University and graduated in 1972. He later got a graduate from Arkansas Tech University.

In between, during and following his college degrees, Barnes coached basketball. Lots of basketball. In total, Barnes coached basketball for 40 years. For thirty-one of those years he was a head coach. He was a high school head coach for 19 years. He then moved up the ladder and coached college athletes for 12 seasons. In his 19 years as a high school coach (8 years at Rogers High School and 11 years at Russellville High School) His teams won five West Conference Championships and finished runner-up another five times. He took both of his high schools to the Arkansas State Championship. He won the Arkansas championship with Russellville in 1985 and finished second in the state with Rogers in 2009. His high school teams earned accolades with a total of 16 State Tournament appearances. They made seven Elite 8 appearances, two Final Fours and two Academic State Championships. In those 19 years, his teams won 374 times while losing just 165, an outstanding winning percentage of .694.

In his 12 seasons as head coach at Arkansas Tech University, the Wonder Boys won four Gulf South Conference championships. Two other times they finished second. ATU also won a pair of NAIA Regional Tournaments, made the Final Four and a Sweet Sixteen Appearance in the NAIA National Tournament. In 12 seasons, his squads won 231 times in 371 games.

Barnes coached 910 games as a head coach. His teams were the victors 605 times. In twenty-nine of those 31 seasons his team posted winning records.

While Barnes’ team collected a lot of hardware, he was also collecting an equally impressive array or awards. He was inducted into the Russellville High School Coached Hall of Fame in 1995 and was 2017 inductee into Rogers High School Hall of Fame. Barnes was named recipient of the 2012 Northwest Arkansas Charlie Spoonhour Lifetime Achievement Award. He was the Arkansas High School Coach of the Year six times and was three times voted the Arkansas High School Assistant Coach of the Year. At Arkansas Tech University, he was the Gulf South Conference Coach of the Year in four of his 12 seasons.