One of the major early topics of "football/basketball offseason 2016" has been what the U of L men's basketball program plans to do with the one scholarship it has available for next season. Perhaps the most talked about player on the short list of candidates who might use that scholarship has been Charleston graduate transfer Canyon Barry.
Barry, who averaged 19.7 ppg for Charleston this past season, currently has Louisville among his list of seven finalists to host him for his senior season. But where does U of L rank among that list of seven?
NBA legend Rick Barry, who doubles as Canyon's father, appeared on "The V Show" with Bob Valvano on Thursday and had some interesting things to say about the recruitment.
"The style would certainly fit for him because he's an up-tempo guy," the elder Barry said. "He averaged 20 points per game on a team that didn't run a whole lot, so my only input was to go to a team that lets you play up and down because that's his style. Wherever he goes, somebody's going to get a young man who knows the game and who plays it in a way that's very exciting."
All right, so we're all good here. Canyon Barry for Louisville. Canyon Barry for 2017 ACC Player of the Year.
Not so fast.
"The only problem there is there's such a big question mark as to what's going to happen to the school as far as eligibility-wise," Barry added. "This is his only chance to possibly get to the NCAA Tournament, which he hasn't had the good fortune of doing yet. I know he would love to experience that, so I think that's going to have a bearing on his decision as well."
Basically, Canyon doesn't want to get Lee and Lewis'd, which I suppose is understandable. Disappointing, but understandable.
You can listen to the full Rick Barry interview (which also includes some Chinanu free-throw comments, of course) right here:
