Rich Barron had to have been the biggest surprise of the 2023 – 2024 Providence season. His story should give Friar fans a lot of optimism about the current staff in place and their recruiting chops. It is easy to hype up the recruiting prowess of a staff when they land a Top 100 4 or 5 star recruit. When a staff can find a hidden gem like a Rich Barron, it shows they trust their eyes despite what the recruiting services say about a high school player.
An unheralded recruit from Chicago with legitimately no recruiting ranking that was previously committed to George Mason, Barron was “perceived” as a reach recruit at the Big East level that could potentially see the floor in his latter years at Providence. Barron had other plans. Kim English and Assistant Coach Nate Tomlinson stuck to their guns and were steadfast in their analysis of his game despite the lack of publicity around his recruitment. In speaking with the Barron family, they had mentioned a late push by Bobby Hurley down at ASU, but his recruitment and his offers mirrored that of a mid-major recruit. It’s his performance in his freshman year that makes me so bullish on the futures of Ryan Mela and Anton Bonke, two under the radar recruits for each of their own reasons.
Barron surprised, earning All Freshman honors in the Big East. He led the team in three point field goal percentage at 42.9% (yes, I’m excluding the 50% from Rafael Castro…). Most important, whenever he was on the court, he didn’t look like a fish out of water. For somebody who was overlooked nationally on the recruiting scene, he played like he belonged in the Big East instantaneously. He carried himself like a veteran and somebody that wasn’t afraid of the stage. This All-Freshman season wasn’t a by-product of Barron putting up garbage time stats on a subpar team; Barron earned his stripes in crucial moments for a fringe bubble team that needed him when injuries throughout the season transpired.
Thus, the question is: what is Barron going do for his encore in his sophomore season? This is where the projection gets a bit more complicated. After his stellar freshman year, you would think it’d be easy to pencil him in as the starting 2 or 3; however, he has much more competition for playing time in 2024-2025 than he did last year. English has brought in talent via high school recruiting and the transfer portal, and it isn’t abundantly clear as I write this in September where he fits into the rotation.
Barron averaged 15.8 minutes a game in his freshman year. Does he surpass that? The jury is still out, but he didn’t have to compete for minutes last year with Justyn Fernandez, Wesley Cardet Jr., Bensley Joseph, and Jabri Abdur Rahim. Barron’s ability to play the 2-4 will (most likely) guarantee he plays a healthy amount, but there is a clear logjam at the wing. Make no mistake though. These are good problems to have and a sign of a healthy program.
What is also causing more questions is the off-season shoulder surgery that Barron had. Is he full-go or are they going to ease him back into normal playing time as he continues to get fully healthy? The preseason practices in October and early November will be incredibly telling. If he is slow to full health, Fernandez and Floyd may have the head start on Barron to early playing time.
Regardless of number of minutes and role, Barron having experience in the Big East is incredibly valuable. Most important is that English appears to trust him. He played key minutes for the Friars last year and did not look overwhelmed. These things matter, especially when talking about an unheralded true freshman.
Secondly, Barron does one thing incredibly well: shoot the deep ball. Barron was one of the few bright spots offensively last year as English tried to find personnel to fit his play style. If Barron can be a high 30%/low 40% three point shooter this year, he’ll force his way onto the court. While optimism rides high with Justyn Fernandez, he is still a relatively unknown at the Big East level. Corey Floyd Jr. has paid his dues, but his shooting last year and mental errors give the Friar faithful an (understandable) pause heading into this year. Playing time is there for the taking for Mr. Barron.
Nobody can confidently say they know how the wing rotation is going to shake out with Floyd Jr., Fernandez, and Barron. The sum will likely be greater than the individual parts, and English may often ride the “hot hand” on a game by game basis, which I am in favor of. I personally expect Barron to play a similar 15-20 minutes off the bench and be a microwave scorer. Providence has more experienced ballhandlers than last year, so I’d imagine looks are going to be easier to come by. If I’m English, I need to find a way to manufacture at least 5 deep ball looks a game for Barron.
For Barron to take the next step, I think he has to round out his game beyond being the deep ball threat. I’m particularly looking to see if Rich can develop a pump fake and dribble drive game. He showcased that in spurts last year, but if he can consistently incorporate a solid pump fake to get his defender off his feet, he becomes a very difficult guard. Defenders dared Floyd Jr. to shoot last year and stayed home on defense. If they do that against Barron, he’ll make them pay.
Defensively, Barron held his own last year, and I think this is another area of his game where we hope to see growth. He may never be an elite defender, but I think his body type allows him to become a rugged and able defender.
I jokingly have stated that Barron is an SEC linebacker in a Providence basketball jersey. Barron is a big body at 6’5 220, and I’d like to see him leverage that aspect of his game more by bullying his defender off the dribble or in the post. Similar to what I wrote about with Floyd, there’s no reason he cannot post up a smaller defender and use his physicality to draw fouls and get to the charity stripe.
The opportunities are there for the player we have monikered Dicky B, and I cannot wait to see what he does his sophomore year. He is already a cult favorite amongst the Friar faithful, and I believe he is going to go down as one of the Friar all time favorites before his time is up at Providence.
Providence Crier Player Preview Articles
Corey Floyd Jr. – https://theprovidencecrier.com/2024/09/19/corey-floyd-jr-player-preview-trust-the-process/
Anton Bonke – https://theprovidencecrier.com/2024/09/10/anton-bonke-international-man-of-mystery/
Justyn Fernandez – https://theprovidencecrier.com/2024/09/09/providence-crier-player-preview-is-the-hype-too-early-for-justyn-fernandez/
This could be Kim English’s season to shine. If he is able to use the talent and the height we have this year to its fullest potential the Friars will definitely be making some very serious noise in the Big East and the Nation. I am confident that he will excel and that we will be enjoying the ride. I think Bryce Hopkins should take his time coming back from his injury as long as he is ready to go on December 10th. We most certainly missed him last season! Go Friars!