From the Winston-Salem Journal:
GREENSBORO — Cat Barber goes with the flow so long as the flow goes forward.
The high-ankle sprain that sidelined the Greensboro Swarm’s point guard for nearly a month? It’s a thing of the past. That much was evident during his 42-minute, 38-point performance last Tuesday in a 125-120 loss to the North Arizona Suns. It was the Swarm’s final game before the all-star break, meaning Barber is in the midst of a 10-day sabbatical before Greensboro plays the Maine Red Claws on Friday.
And the calamity that has engulfed his college team, N.C. State, since the calendar flipped to 2017?
Barber doesn’t want to get too deep into the woods when it comes to his former team or his former coach, Mark Gottfried. But he says “it’s crazy” and that a string of double-digit defeats — specifically that 51-point blowout at North Carolina — would’ve been “a different story” if he were still on the roster. It’s hard to argue with him considering that there has been nothing comparable to Barber’s blood-and-guts style on the Wolfpack’s roster this season.
Even his decision to leave N.C. State after his junior year isn’t up for second-guessing.
Barber posted an ACC-leading 23.5 points per game average (seventh-most in the country) last season along with 4.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists while playing nearly 39 minutes a game. His production and durability despite his lithe 6-1 build had advisers telling Barber he would go either late in the NBA Draft’s first round or somewhere in the second.
Would things have turned out differently all the way around for Barber and the Pack had he returned for his senior year?
“I don’t know, and I can’t say,” Barber said. “But I know I came out because of her.”
“Her” is Cadence Aniyah, Barber’s daughter who turned 2 last month and “the No. 1 reason why” he entered the NBA Draft. With his stock seemingly high, he decided the most prudent route as a young father as well as a player would be to come out early so he could cash in.
However, after more than a dozen pre-draft workouts, Barber found himself joining a dubious club rather than an NBA team. He became the fifth N.C. State player to leave early in four years and the third to go undrafted.
Barber signed a summer league deal with the New Orleans Pelicans and averaged 6.3 points and 11.3 minutes over four games before missing the schedule finale because of a concussion. The Pelicans didn’t pick him up and he was invited to the Philadelphia 76ers’ training camp before being sent to their D-League team before the start of the season.
The Swarm got him from the Delaware 87ers in a trade for Aaron Harrison on Feb. 3. He came off the bench the following night to score 15 points in 33 minutes during a 130-99 loss to the Long Island Nets. It was his first action since suffering that ankle injury on Jan. 14. He was averaging 13 points in five games with Greensboro until that breakout against the Suns.
“We knew when we acquired him that he would be our primary ballhandler, that he would be our point guard,” coach Noel Gillespie of the Swarm said. “I know what his reputation was at N.C. State. But what I want to do is make him an NBA point guard, meaning run NBA sets, being a pick-and-roll ballhandler, running a team. But, again, this maybe being his fifth game with the team, he’s kind of rusty. We played him three games without a practice. That was him being a basketball player on the fly.”
He can definitely ball. Barber was often N.C. State’s first, second and third offensive option as a junior en route to being named first-team All-ACC.
It’s impossible to gauge the impact he would’ve had this season considering that point guard Dennis Smith, Jr. — the most highly touted recruit in N.C. State history — was joining the team. His role would’ve definitely been changed if not marginalized. Still you can’t discount everything he accomplished during his three years with the Pack.
Could one more season — perhaps even one beside Smith — had reversed his professional fortunes?
“I feel like everything happens for a reason,” Barber said. “No doubts or anything. Even if I did, I’ve got to pull through it, pull forward. Can’t look back now. That’s how I approach stuff — ahead, not behind.”
Listen for “The Scott Hamilton Show,” weekdays from 3-6 p.m. on 600 WSJS or streaming live on www.WSJS.com
GREENSBORO — Cat Barber goes with the flow so long as the flow goes forward.
The high-ankle sprain that sidelined the Greensboro Swarm’s point guard for nearly a month? It’s a thing of the past. That much was evident during his 42-minute, 38-point performance last Tuesday in a 125-120 loss to the North Arizona Suns. It was the Swarm’s final game before the all-star break, meaning Barber is in the midst of a 10-day sabbatical before Greensboro plays the Maine Red Claws on Friday.
And the calamity that has engulfed his college team, N.C. State, since the calendar flipped to 2017?
Barber doesn’t want to get too deep into the woods when it comes to his former team or his former coach, Mark Gottfried. But he says “it’s crazy” and that a string of double-digit defeats — specifically that 51-point blowout at North Carolina — would’ve been “a different story” if he were still on the roster. It’s hard to argue with him considering that there has been nothing comparable to Barber’s blood-and-guts style on the Wolfpack’s roster this season.
Even his decision to leave N.C. State after his junior year isn’t up for second-guessing.
Barber posted an ACC-leading 23.5 points per game average (seventh-most in the country) last season along with 4.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists while playing nearly 39 minutes a game. His production and durability despite his lithe 6-1 build had advisers telling Barber he would go either late in the NBA Draft’s first round or somewhere in the second.
Would things have turned out differently all the way around for Barber and the Pack had he returned for his senior year?
“I don’t know, and I can’t say,” Barber said. “But I know I came out because of her.”
“Her” is Cadence Aniyah, Barber’s daughter who turned 2 last month and “the No. 1 reason why” he entered the NBA Draft. With his stock seemingly high, he decided the most prudent route as a young father as well as a player would be to come out early so he could cash in.
However, after more than a dozen pre-draft workouts, Barber found himself joining a dubious club rather than an NBA team. He became the fifth N.C. State player to leave early in four years and the third to go undrafted.
Barber signed a summer league deal with the New Orleans Pelicans and averaged 6.3 points and 11.3 minutes over four games before missing the schedule finale because of a concussion. The Pelicans didn’t pick him up and he was invited to the Philadelphia 76ers’ training camp before being sent to their D-League team before the start of the season.
The Swarm got him from the Delaware 87ers in a trade for Aaron Harrison on Feb. 3. He came off the bench the following night to score 15 points in 33 minutes during a 130-99 loss to the Long Island Nets. It was his first action since suffering that ankle injury on Jan. 14. He was averaging 13 points in five games with Greensboro until that breakout against the Suns.
“We knew when we acquired him that he would be our primary ballhandler, that he would be our point guard,” coach Noel Gillespie of the Swarm said. “I know what his reputation was at N.C. State. But what I want to do is make him an NBA point guard, meaning run NBA sets, being a pick-and-roll ballhandler, running a team. But, again, this maybe being his fifth game with the team, he’s kind of rusty. We played him three games without a practice. That was him being a basketball player on the fly.”
He can definitely ball. Barber was often N.C. State’s first, second and third offensive option as a junior en route to being named first-team All-ACC.
It’s impossible to gauge the impact he would’ve had this season considering that point guard Dennis Smith, Jr. — the most highly touted recruit in N.C. State history — was joining the team. His role would’ve definitely been changed if not marginalized. Still you can’t discount everything he accomplished during his three years with the Pack.
Could one more season — perhaps even one beside Smith — had reversed his professional fortunes?
“I feel like everything happens for a reason,” Barber said. “No doubts or anything. Even if I did, I’ve got to pull through it, pull forward. Can’t look back now. That’s how I approach stuff — ahead, not behind.”
Listen for “The Scott Hamilton Show,” weekdays from 3-6 p.m. on 600 WSJS or streaming live on www.WSJS.com
