Harrison Barnes
Early Life
Harrison Barnes was born on May 30, 1992 in Ames, Iowa. In his junior year Barnes led Ames High to a 26-0 season in which his team won the Iowa 4A State Championship, a game in which Barnes had 24 points and 8 rebounds. Again during Barnes senior season he led Ames to another undefeated season going 27-0 and another Iowa 4A State Championship. He finished his senior year averaging 26.1 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3.1 steal per game and was selected to USA Today All-USA First Team and a McDonald’s All-American. During the McDonald’s All-American game he scored a team-high 18 points in a 3 point win for the West 107-104. Barnes was named co-MVP of the contest with Jared Sullinger. Barnes also won co-MVP of the 2010 Jordan Brand Classic game with future #1 pick Kyrie Irving. On March 10, 2010 Barnes was named the nation’s top player after being awarded the Morgan Wooten Player of the Year Award. Barnes finished his career at Aimes High as their all-time leading scorer with 1,787.
Barnes was ranked #2 and #1 in the class of 2010 by Rivals.com and Scout.com respectively. After receiving offers from most top programs such as Duke, UCLA, Kansas, and Iowa State Barnes chose to play for the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Collegiate Career
Entering his freshman season at North Carolina Barnes was an AP Preseason All-American. Barnes scored a career-high 40 points in the ACC Tournament which was an freshman record in the ACC Tournament. Although being widely criticized for his inability to take over a game after being so highly ranked coming in to UNC Barnes scored the most points by a freshman in the ACC Tournament since 1975 and the most point of any UNC freshman in the NCAA Tournament with 84 points. He also became the 9th Tar Heel to be awarded ACC Rookie of the Year. Barnes was also named to the 2012 All-ACC 2nd Team and the 2011 All-ACC Rookie Team.
After being widely assumed to be a top pick in the 2011 NBA Draft Barnes announced in April of that year that he would return for his sophomore season.
Barnes was again named a Preseason All-American in 2011. He showed more signs of his ability to attack the basket during his sophomore year racking up 71 more FTA’s. Barnes also led his team in scoring in 15 games during the regular season and twice during the ACC Tournament with a season-high 27 against Virginia Tech. Barnes however, did not lead UNC in scoring in any of their 4 NCAA Tournament games during his sophomore season. Barnes was recognized with a 2012 All-ACC 1st Team selection as well as being recognized as a 2012 2nd Team All-American. He finished his two seasons with career averages of 16.3 points and 5.5 rebounds before declaring for the 2012 NBA Draft.
Professional Career
Entering the 2012 NBA Draft the position the Warriors needed to fulfill was Small Forward. The top 2 Small Forwards, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Harrison Barnes were projected to go top 3-5 so it was expected the Warriors would be stuck to pick best available which would have been Andre Drummond or Dion Waiters. However when the Cavs took Syracuse Orange 6th Man 4th and the Kings took Kansas big man Thomas Robinson 5th it was clear the Warriors luck had turned up. After being criticized for “tanking” the last month or two of the season to retained their pick the Warriors had Harrison Barnes fall into their lap and made him the #7 Pick overall in the 2012 NBA Draft on June 28, 2012.
Barnes was expected to be in competition with veteran Richard Jefferson and newcomer Brandon Rush for the starting SF position, but was named the starter quickly into training camp. He started all 81 games he played in the regular season as well as all 12 playoff games which is a remarkable feat for any rookie. Barnes first “I made it” moment took place during the 14th game of his rookie season on November 24th at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves when he caught a bounce pass from David Lee while cutting to the basket. The result was arguable the dunk of the year when he dunked up, over, and through the Timberwolves 6”11 290-pound Serbian Center Nikola Pekovic.
As the Warriors 4th/5th option on offense depending who you ask Barnes had a relatively successful albeit quite statistically rookie season. He score 20 points or more only 3 times in the regular season, but he did score double-digits in 35 of his 81 regular season games with a career-high 21 twice.
Barnes finished his rookie season being named to the All-Rookie 1st Team and he also finished 6th in Rookie of the Year voting. He also finished 4th in scoring amongst rookies with 9.2 points.
Emergence of the Black Falcon
The 2013 Playoffs were like a completely different series for the rookie. Game 1 against the Nuggets wasn’t overwhelming as he scored only 8 points, but that came on 5-6 shooting from the field including 2-2 from 3 which was a surprise from the 35.9% 3-point shooter. After Game 1 was when it all changed for the young Barnes. David Lee went down with a torn hip flexor and Barnes was tasked to fill the PF role for the first time in his career. The rest of the Playoffs he had games of 23, 24, 25, and 26 points all higher than his previous career-high of 21. In Game 1 against the Spurs Barnes finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds on 8-14 from the field and 3-6 from 3. In Game 4 against the Spurs while playing 51+ minutes he score 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds (5 offensively) although he shot only 9-26.
The injury to Lee opened up more space in the middle of the floor and in the paint for Barnes to drive and attack and more deadly with the Warriors playing Barnes alongside 3 better shooters (Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Jarrett Jack) he was able to spot up for wide-open 3’s from the wing and/or the corner for easy looks. This role is something that made the Warriors dangerous in the Playoffs and something we will hopefully be able to see at times moving forward.
In the summer of 2013 Harrison Barnes was invited to the Team USA minicamp which showcased 27 of the league’s top young players and will be the players evaluated to fill any open spots for the 2014 FIBA World Cup and eventually the 2016 Olympics.
On August 27, 2013 Harrison Barnes was recognized by Fox Sports Live as their Best Person in sports for recently donating backpacks school supplies to 85 kids as well as 15 Warriors season tickets to an Oakland Boys&Girls Club.
With the acquistion of newly acquired All-Star and Olympic Gold Medalist Andre Iguodala, the second year Barnes is set for a role change as he shifts from a starting role to the teams 6th Man. Barnes will still figure predominantly for the team now and into the future as he can provide relief not only for Iguodala, but also for Lee as a stretch-4.
Barnes was ranked as the 76th best player in the NBA by ESPN’s #NBARank moving up 103 spots from his rookie campaign.
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