Top-Recruit Barnes Chooses North Carolina

Sports News - November 13th, 2009 - Written by John

Harrison Barnes, the uber-prospect out of Ames High School in Iowa, announced on Friday that he has chosen to play basketball at North Carolina next year.

In front of a large entourage of mostly media, fans and family members, the five-star recruit picked the Tar Heels over dozens of other schools vying for his services. The six-foot-seven forward is the no. 1 prospect in the country, according to ESPN's Top 100, after an undefeated season and a 4A state title last year. He will be a welcome addition to a team that has won the national title twice in the last four years. North Carolina is the defending champion, and heard the news through a live video feed set up by Roy Williams and the rest of the Tar Heel staff.

Barnes will be headed to Chapel Hill alongside Reggie Bullock and Kendall Marshall, two other prized recruits who committed to North Carolina about a week ago. The trio is speculated by CarolinaBlue.com to produce one of the top-three recruiting classes in the nation.

North Carolina is only losing two players after this upcoming season, but had an extra scholarship set aside for another possible player. Williams made it public during the process that the extra scholarship was for Barnes, and Barnes only, focusing all of his efforts on the senior. After Bullock and Marshall signed, Barnes was the only other player in the country offered.

Blogs and fan forums had been buzzing over his announcement in the days leading up, mostly indifferent about where the star would land, but some simply hoping it wouldn't be with their rival school. It comes as bitter news to all other schools, primarily Duke, which had been hoping to land Barnes as part of an already great recruiting class.

He also had the choice to attend Kansas, UCLA or Oklahoma, among others.

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