And that just may be one of the reasons he chooses not to come to ISU. I mentioned it last week.
It concerns me a bit at how much the fans are putting the future of ISU MBB on his shoulders.
You can try to say it's not happening all you want - but it is. I can pull up countless posts and I hear many conversations about how Barnes could fix this program.
That's a lot to carry.
If I were Barnes, I would go to Iowa State. There is more opportunity for him at Iowa State than anywhere else. The spotlight will be on him all the way. If he can boost the confidence of Iowa State basketball and in a hurry. No coach can fix a program or rebuild a tradition without help from a strong athlete. Austin Arnaud could go anywhere to play D1 football but he chose to come to Iowa State, the same goes for Barnes' dad and even an average player like Alex Thompson. It doesn't matter how well you play ball, it matters if you can contribute to your community and bring back the glory of old days.
Duke or Kansas will get tremendous recruit all the time. Barnes will be just a player like many others who have come and gone at either of those schools. But in Ames and at Iowa State he will be THE player of the decade if not ages.
Its amazing how kids these days make stupid decisions to not become a role model and do the right things. I am not saying Barnes playing for Duke would be the wrong thing to do. All I am saying is Iowa State needs a solid athlete at this time and its THE best opportunity and perfect timing for him to come and play at Iowa State. The coach can't get the job done, the team is full of average players except for Brackins of course - why not become the next Cael Sanderson and do something amazing to keep the tradition alive. I mean his dad must have had a million reason to go elsewhere but he chose Iowa State - why not the son too?
