Basketball recruit feels pull of Duke, UNC

Harrison Barnes says he can sense the push and pull, blue against blue, building like a rising tide.

Barnes is considered the best high school basketball player in the country. At 6 feet 6, the senior has the skills -- the sweet perimeter touch, the ability to slash and finish, the rebounding, the hops, ballhawking quickness, and instincts -- that have made him something of a legend in his hometown of Ames, Iowa.

"He's Elvis out here," Ames High basketball coach Vance Downs said.

Needless to say, he's the kind of player that college coaches everywhere covet. Especially North Carolina's Roy Williams and Duke's Mike Krzyzewski.

It's quite possible Barnes' decision may come down to Carolina or Duke -- the light hue or royal blue. If so, a legion of fans on one side will be pretty giddy, and those on the other side sad and mad, if not a bit bitter. Talk about some message-board trash-talking.

"There's a little tension there, to say the least," Barnes said. "I've definitely heard it from both sides."

Not that it's just between the Tar Heels and Blue Devils. Barnes recently listed his final six schools and two others wear blue, too -- Kansas and UCLA. Also in the six are Oklahoma and Iowa State, the hometown school and the first to offer him a scholarship.

"In the end," Barnes said, "I'll do what's best for me."

Duke was considered a frontrunner for Barnes, only to have Carolina come on strong. And the Heels all but rolled out the red carpet at the Smith Center when Barnes made his official recruiting visit and took in UNC's Pro Alumni basketball game on Sept. 4.

15 feet from MJ

Barnes' mother, Shirley, once taped many of Michael Jordan's games after His Airness left Carolina and was doing his thing for the Chicago Bulls, just in case she one day had a son. In May 1992, when she did give birth, her son was named Harrison Bryce-Jordan Barnes.

So here was Harrison Bryce-Jordan Barnes, on a Friday night at the Smith Center. Standing barely 15 feet away on the court was Jordan, MJ himself, basking in the roars of an adoring crowd before the alumni game.

Also on the court were such NBA players as Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison and Jerry Stackhouse. There was former UNC coach Dean Smith, and NBA coaches such as Larry Brown and George Karl, all back in Chapel Hill to help kick off the school's 100th basketball anniversary.

Barnes would watch and clap as the Heels unveiled their 2009 NCAA championship banner that night. The next day, at Carolina's football opener at Kenan Stadium, he would see the Heels receive their championship rings.

But there was Jordan that Friday night, so close. A week away from his induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Jordan flashed his megawatt smile as a video montage of his highlights was shown on the overhead screens.

"To have the greatest player to ever play the game ... it kind of blows you away just trying to grasp the whole thing," Barnes said.

After the game, Shirley Barnes stood in a Smith Center hallway with her 10-year-old daughter, Ashle Jourdan. Asked her thoughts on the experience, Shirley paused, as if trying to find the right words.

"It's unexplainable," Ashle said, taking the lead.

"Probably surreal," Shirley said. "Michael Jordan is quite the favorite."

The Barneses had a chance to meet Jordan, as NCAA rules allow. But only briefly.

"All they can do is say hello," Williams said of the former UNC players.

Still, it left a lasting impression, as did the evening and the visit.

"It's very humbling to think you can be a part of a great tradition like that," Harrison Barnes said last week.

Given that reaction, one can only wonder how the other schools recruiting Barnes could match such as visit.

"No one else can roll out Michael Jordan and all those pros for one event," said Dave Telep, the national basketball recruiting director for Scout.com.

Barnes is scheduled to visit Duke on the weekend of Oct. 23-24. He should be at Cameron Indoor Stadium when the Blue Devils face Pfeiffer in an exhibition game.

That's hardly like seeing MJ, seeing Ant and Vince play and dunk.

"But every kid is different," Telep said. "Other schools have to find other buttons to push."

Professor Rice

At Stanford, it was arranging a visit for Barnes to see a "Professor Rice" at her office on campus. That was Condoleezza Rice, the former U.S. secretary of state. That was impressive, said Shirley Barnes, who works in the music department at Iowa State.

"It's up to the other schools to go to the drawing board and find out what works with Harrison," Telep said. "At Duke, it starts with Mike Krzyzewski."

Krzyzewski, like Williams, has the national championship rings and a plaque in the Naismith Hall of Fame. He coached the U.S. to an Olympic gold medal and will coach the U.S. team again in 2012 in London.

"And Duke is a very special place," Shirley Barnes said, noting an unofficial visit to the campus last October.

Harrison, who has a 3.6 grade-point average, is taking advanced placement courses at Ames High and may enter college as a sophomore, academically. He would like the opportunity to be able to fast-track to a business degree.

"Academics do come first with Harrison," said high school coach Downs. "He has his priorities set, as they should be."

There's no doubting Barnes' basketball ability. Just check out the YouTube highlights that routinely get thousands of hits.

"It seems like he has grown three inches a year and that his game has grown at the same rate," Downs said. "Plus he's a terrific kid, as good as they come.

"I think he's comfortable with what's gone on [in recruiting]. Some kids become uncomfortable and want it to end as soon as possible. Not Harrison."

Some believe Barnes will wait until the spring signing period to decide on a school. Telep, in turn, said his "gut feeling" is Barnes will decide this fall.

A willing recruit

Barnes isn't saying but did note he can deal with the good and the bad of recruiting, which can be suffocating.

"I like basketball and like talking basketball, and it has given me the chance to meet a lot of big-time coaches, meet a lot of players and get their advice," he said. "It's all about what you make of it. It can consume you, and you have to make sure that doesn't happen."

The coaches all want some of his time, Krzyzewski has made the trip to Ames. Williams has made the trip to Ames.

"He's pretty well-grounded and understands that part of it," Downs said of the Duke-Carolina rivalry.

In a way, it's similar to the recruiting duel during the 2005-2006 season for forward Brandan Wright, who was rated the No. 5 player nationally as a senior at Brentwood (Tenn.) Academy and now plays for the Golden State Warriors.

Wright, like Barnes, felt the push and pull of the blues.

"Oh, I do know that feeling," he said.

In the end, Wright chose Carolina. But nothing is ever assured in recruiting.

"I thought Brandan Wright would go to Duke or Vanderbilt, so I was surprised," Telep said. "Carolina snuck in there."

And with Barnes?

"It's going to be fascinating to watch," Telep said.

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