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Carolina Basketball 2011-12 HARRISON BARNES J.D. Lyon Jr. ca • Averaged 27.1 points, 10.4 re- bounds, four assists and four steals and shot 43.1 percent from three- point range as a senior • Ames won the sportsmanship trophy at the 2009 and 2010 state champi- onship tournaments • MVP of the 2010 state championship, scoring 19 points in the title game • Scored 1,787 career points, breaking Fred Hoiberg's state record • Ames was TarHeelBlue.com Focus: A FORWARD THINKER by Adam Lucas, TarHeelBlue.com Amidst all the baying about the fantastic lifestyle afforded to an NBA player, it's startling to find the most clear-eyed assessment delivered by a 19-year-old college sophomore from Iowa. This particular sophomore, Harrison Barnes, could have stepped directly into that lifestyle this summer. But he chose to return to North Carolina, so it seems reasonable to inquire as to why—when so many of his peers are in a hurry to minimize the college experience—he's back in Chapel Hill. Barnes, typically, is thoughtful. This is nothing unusual, unless you're unfamiliar with him, in which case it can be disarming. All his interviews are thoughtful. You get out of them exactly what you put into them. Ask him something unique, and he's likely to pause before speaking, as if he's going through a rough draft in his mind. What of this decision he has made to put off becoming an adult for at least one more year? "Being around Carolina, you can see the excitement, the joy and the pride the former players have in coming back here and knowing they won a championship here," Barnes says. "That's something I want to do. The money and the NBA, that stuff is very provocative because it's right here, right now. But to be able to come back to a program like this years from now and look at what you've done, that is very important." In an instant gratification society, Barnes seems like a throwback. Here, sitting in the Smith Center, he's already weighing the value of being able to walk back into this building in five years with a sturdy Tar Heel resume. To help achieve that goal, he spent his summer refining the parts of his game he considered lacking during a stellar freshman season. But it wasn't a perfect freshman campaign. Barnes shot just 42.3 percent from the field and committed 72 turnovers. "Coach Williams asked me to get more well-rounded as a player," Barnes says of his pre-summer conversation with the Tar Heel head coach. "He wants me to be more selective with the shots I take and improve my ball-handling." His summer workouts led him to a kindred spirit in Chapel Hill in Shammond Williams, a 1998 graduate who is a regular at the Smith Center pickup games. Williams is unfailingly honest with the current Tar Heels, always willing to point out where a screen could be stiffer or a pass could be delivered more accurately. "I learned a lot from him," Barnes says. "It could be something in the weight room or it could be a pointer in pickup. It's easy to become complacent in the summer because you don't have those routine checkups that you have during the season, when you're always playing games. During the season, you go out and play a game and see what you need to improve. In the summer, you have to stay motivated. And I feel like a learned a lot this summer and became a better player." 31 undefeated at home his last three seasons and posted a four-year overall record of 89-9 • Won four straight conference championships • Two-time Iowa Gatorade Player of the Year • Mr. Basketball in Iowa • Two-time first-team all-state • Parade All-America first team in 2010 and second team in 2009 • Had 46 points and 14 rebounds for USA Junior National Team against Serbia in 2009 • Member of DECA (marketing and management club) and SHEPH (Students Helping to Eliminate Poverty and Hunger), participated in local food drives, worked with the Ronald McDon- ald House and led a weekly Bible study • Also competed in the high jump and long jump • Plays the saxophone and sang in the school choir • Member of the honor roll all four years, earned academic all- conference honors and was an Ad- vanced Placement Scholar PERSONAL Born Harrison Bryce Jordan Barnes • Business administration major. Jeffrey Camarati