Alex Barcello - 2017 Point Guard (Arizona)

I'd feel bad if he and his parents were to naïve to realize how it works at schools like Arizona. But at a certain point you can't blame others for things not going your way. Not everyone is a victim. You learn from mistakes.

There's also nothing wrong with riding the pine for a year or two. I know some people covet instant gratification but there will be opportunity for anyone who is talented and willing to be patient.

 

He's obviously not supremely talented at a program like Arizona if he's been recruited over multiple times.


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I never said he was a supreme talent vis a vis the other recruits at AZ. Of course he's not. But in the college basketball landscape, if you are a consensus top 100 player you are an elite prospect (especially as a pg). But I'm not sure why it is hard to understand why one may feel for a kid who probably bought in to some grown men's lies at his expense and their gain.


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Revisiting 15 months later: Barcello is averaging 8 minutes per game as a sophomore on Arizona's worst team since 2010, and that's inflated by the higher minutes he's played against a few awful opponents to open the season. He's played 12 total minutes in their last three games.

I think he is (or could be) a big contributor to a good team. But Arizona (a) is toxic right now; and (b) is going to have or pull in more highly-regarded guys who will play over him every year he's there. Maybe he can be a solid role player there as a senior on a good team. That's his best case scenario. Is that really the college basketball path you want when you're a top 100 recruit out of high school? Of course not.

 

Maybe b-ball wasn’t as important as getting has education at Arizona where he is from.

 

He had an offer from Stanford. Academics were not the priority.

But yeah, maybe staying close to home was really important (though based on his top choices - which were literally from coast to coast - I highly doubt that was the case).