Harrison Barnes Commits to NC; What Else Were His Options

With the Nation's top prep basketball recruit hailing for Ames Iowa, the University of Iowa State had many high hopes. When Harrison Barnes announced his decision to attend the University of North Carolina he crushed many Cyclones dreams, but he made me wonder. What else were his options?

If Barnes wants to eventually play professionally ISU clearly isn't the place for him to be. In the past 10 years ISU has had zero players go on into the NBA and have successful, illustrious careers. There was Marcus Fizer, who only got drafted as high as he did because, his college coach went on to be a head coach with the Chicago Bulls the same year Fizer went into the draft. Fizer ended up being a huge bust ( some are saying top 5 all time) and his pro career never panned out. As of now Fizer is best known for his heavy tattooed body. Some say he ledt the school on, tricking them into thinking he'd attend ISU if they let him use the facilities to train in and hold the announcement ceremony. When really Barnes' mother works for ISU and that's why he had all of these things available to him. I'd be absolutely disgusted with head Cyclone coach Greg McDermott if his courtesies towards Barnes were only for his and his teams growth. 

One thing that does come to my mind is what if he pulled a Brandon Jennings. Barnes is supposed to be better at this stage in his career than Jennings. What if he would have passed up the one or two years he'll spend in college to go pro in Barcelona or Greece? Some say he'd never do this because he has, character and education is important to him. If that's the case ISU made perfect sense for him. Close to family, friends and academically it's a great program. It's clear Barnes is concentrated on a professional basketball career, and I think over seas would have worked out well for the kid. He's more mature then what Jennings appeared at the time, he's smarter and after watching many of his interviews he appears to be of very kind and his goals seem to be thought out.

I question his basketball ability. After leading Ames High School to the Class 4A Iowa basketball championship game, and winning, Barnes was thrown into national spot light. Yet, he averaged just over 19 points per game as a Junior. He's tall, lengthy and has a decent shot, but he doesn't appear to unusually fast and he doesn't appear to have top college level strenght or ball handling. Jennings had all of that, and currently is the top scoring rookie in the NBA.

Barnes, just like many high school prep recruits, has a long way to go before being a house hold name. Heck, he has a long way to go before playing substantial minutes for the Tar Heels. Did he make the right decisions, yes. Will his potential ever come to fruition on a grander scale then Iowa high school basketball, I don't know. I certainly hope so, it may be exactly what Iowa high school athletics need, not to mention he now becomes some sort of a scapegoat for hardening times in Middle America.

I just truly wonder if Barnes will ever live up to his potential. At just 17 the boy has handled the pressure with great poise and appears very humble. Barnes has proved what kind of character he posses' off the court, and now with ESPN planning on televising one or more of his high school games let's see how he handles the pressure on the court.

Only then can we truly judge Iowa's LeBron James.