Barbour showcased in ESPN’s three-point contest
By Kevin Russell
The High Point University Men’s Basketball recruiting class of 2008 was one of the most anticipated in school history. Jacob Lati, Chad July, Dave Singleton and Steadman Short headlined a class that was to help lead the program to their first ever NCAA tournament bid.
Head Coach at the time Bart Lundy raved about the class he put together. It was for all the right reasons. On paper, it was one of the best in the conference and in the history of the university.
“We are thrilled and excited to be signing such a talented group of athletes,” Lundy said back in 2008. “It says a lot about our program and the University to have this caliber of player make the decision to sign with us.”
Unfortunately after a disappointing 2008-09 season, the first for this promising class, Lundy resigned from his position as head coach.
With Lundy’s resignation and the signing of new head coach Scott Cherry, Lati, July and Short all decided to move on from HPU. This left Singleton and late signees Corey Law and Nick Barbour as the only remaining members of the once promising recruiting class.
As a late signee, not much was expected out of the skinny 6 ‘2 guard, Barbour. There were questions regarding his durability, as well if he had the athletic ability to play at the collegiate level.
One thing no one ever questioned about Barbour was his ability to score, more importantly, shoot the three ball.
Cherry and his staff realized right away that Barbour could be a vital asset in their attempt to implement a high tempo offense and didn’t want to let him get away.
“I always knew things would work out here. These last three years have been the best of my life,” said Barbour.
Barbour had an incredible final three years of his career under Cherry. He led the team in scoring all three years as well as three pointers made. His three years under Cherry all culminated with him being invited to participate in the NCAA Men’s 3 Point Shootout in New Orleans, on Thursday, March 29.
Barbour led the nation in three-point field goal percentage in 2012, at 48.4 percent, and was one of the favorites heading down to New Orleans.
Brad Nessler, an announcer covering the event for ESPN, even picked Barbour to win. Nessler believed that Barbour would do well because of his smooth, short stroke as well as the fact that he shoots left handed.
Unfortunately Barbour had a rough first few racks in the competition and was eliminated after the first round.
The smooth, short stroke that Nessler believed would carry Barbour to the title became long and deliberate and Barbour was not able to correct it in time.
He finished the competition with 11 points out of a possible 30, although he was able to make all five shots on the final rack.
“I’m obviously a little disappointed right now,” said Barbour immediately following the event. “I obviously came here to win, but this whole experience has just been incredible and I’m so blessed for this opportunity.”
Although he didn’t have his best performance in the shootout, it was still an incredible experience for the senior, who will graduate in May. Barbour was featured on ESPN, got an all -expenses paid trip to New Orleans, as well as got to meet and interact with some of the best players in the country.
For a kid who was barely recruited out of high school, it marks a remarkable rise to stardom.
“I just hope that I represented HPU and all of the smaller schools well. This was an incredible experience; one that I’ll never forget.”