Harrison Barnes

[Psyclone Brian]

Lol!!! ...you guys, I'm partially yanking your chains here.
I'm with a lot of you. I think he's a stud player, and a wonderful person in great character. I just wish he would've come out from the very begining and been a little bit more humble about what his aim & direction in life were. He had been talking the business degree up since he was a Junior at Ames... (knowing that) He outspokenly had Duke in his sights until the bitter end... ...called a presser at his own HS to inform all of us that he's going to Skype to us a smiling gathering of Tar Heels basically laughing at us all the way. and ultimately gave a rather lame reason about business school (being his top priority and reason for going out East)

Ok... Pre-season All-American... Made the cover of every English speaking Men's College BB magazine... the greatest thing since sliced bread... etc.. etc...

What am I trying to say??? Harrison, all the hype in the world about yourself will not get you to the NBA any quicker, or give yourself a higher rating. (in anyone's eyes, especially the NBA's) You prove what you can on the court, which you did in the past 2 years. After your 1st year you said, "...I haven't accomplished yet what I came here to do." (maybe) My guess is that you came close to that National Championship you could've almost tasted it. AND with the advice of other coaches and executives, THEY kept you put, claiming you weren't quite NBA ready.
This year, pretty much the same outcome... although NOW, there's a fellow HS classmate out there who has kind of surpassed you in the media spotlight, and began feeling the heat of the rest of the collegiate talent creeping up on your heels pretty quick. In other words... screw the business degree, I'm going Pro because that's what my ultimate goal is, and if I don't go now, my stock will appear to get even more watered down if I continue to hang around college ball any longer. NOT because I'm getting any worse, but because the rest of the country's talent is getting better! Not only that HB.. you probably now realize that joining a group of other McDonald A-A's won't give you the rock like you have always been used to in the past.

My 1st point is you should have gone to a school that was not as high profile as UNC. (Those clowns ain't the best in College basketball year in and year out) ...and the business degree thing? n/m.

My 2nd point is EVERYONE wants a freakin' Nat. championship, True! you are a very good player, and will certainly have made an impact wherever you would have went.

My 3rd and final point... You should have been honest to everyone from the beginning, especially to yourself. Walking out of Ames HS one afternoon, you could've calmly called the press or answered the question with never any doubt.
And it probably would've gone something like this...

Hi... Where am I going after HS? I'm pretty confident that I'm going to N. Carolina because I feel that "they" are the best fit for me to POSSIBLY win a National Championship and make a more transparent xfer to the next level.

...And nobody would've said a word.

[Cyforce]

Wanting Barnes to fail on a National stage has nothing to do with his skype or his word or anything about HB for that matter. It's about the next McDonold's All-American that comes out of Iowa. (excluding Paige)

Look at what ISU accomplished with their last McD AA, a bad seeding and a hose job from a Final Four and a possible National Championship Game w/ MSU on a more neutral floor.

Doug becoming First team AA is a step in the right direction to showing kids the elite programs aren't always the answer.

Finally, I know our coaching situation made this virtually impossible but for a moment lets pretend HB ended up w/ Fred & Co. in Ames. The reason I want you to make this assumption is it is very likely that the next elite player to come out of Iowa will see a very stable coaching situation at Iowa State.

Our lineup? Most likely our defensive stopper would of been coming off the bench for positions 1-4. Season outcome? Possibly 3 more wins, which gets us to maybe a 5 seed and a Sweet 16 date with a wounded UNC. I like our chances, and if we win? Kansas in the Elite 8 on a neutral Floor. Most likely still going to lose to Kentucky but history is made and our recruiting status is set for years to come.