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The Harrison Barnes Diary: Official visit to Kansas >>> highschoolhoop.com
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As he navigates through the hectic recruiting process, HighSchoolHoop’s top-rated player, Ames High (IA) swingman Harrison Barnes has agreed to chronicle his thoughts for us during each of his five official visits. First was North Carolina, then Oklahoma; now Barnes shares his experiences from his official visit to Kansas for “Late Night in the Phog” during the weekend of Oct. 16 …
I got there Friday morning. My family and I drove and when we got to campus we met up with Coach (Danny) Manning, who took us over to meet the Dean of the school. She was a little new to the university, but she gave a great presentation. She gave us a good feel for the campus. After that, we took a little tour and saw where I would eat and some hangouts and things like that. Then we went over to Allen Fieldhouse.
They had made some upgrades since I had been there a year before at Late Night. I got to see the new weight room, the new player’s lounge, the locker rooms, the new practice floor … It was a really good time. Then I got a chance to see the guys play a little pickup. I didn’t play. I could have, but I opted not to. I needed some rest. That night we ate dinner at Phog Allen and that was cool.
We got a chance to hang out with the players, and then before everything started, we were escorted to the front row for Late Night. I had been down there the year before to see them raise their banner, which was really special. I thought this year was really good, too. It was funny to see guys like Xavier Henry and Elijah Johnson, who I had seen Late Night with the year before, out there doing the Old School skits. Just seeing Sherron Collins and Mario Little do their thing out there was cool.
Late Night was great, I really had a great time. After that, the players took Doron Lamb and I out and they showed us a real good time. It was a good chance to hang out with the players and get to know them. We enjoyed that a lot.
The next morning we had breakfast and then had a meeting with the business school. We came back to the gym after that and I watched a practice then I worked out myself. I was a little tired so I came back to the hotel and relaxed. Then I got up and watched another individual workout. It was a good time for me to see how Coach (Bill) Self coaches, how his players respond to him, how good the relationships are and how good he handled the players. That was a good experience.
After seeing them practice and play, I can see why people say that they’re No. 1 in the country. They have a great point guard in Sherron, and I think Cole Aldrich is one of the best big men in the country. Then they’ve got a lot of great players and the Morris twins. I think they’ll get a lot of good production from Xavier and Thomas Robinson, and I think Tyshawn Taylor is gonna surprise a lot of people this year too.
So Saturday night I had a chance to go over Coach Self’s house for dinner, and it is by far the greatest house that I’ve ever seen in my life. I think that “MTV Cribs” needs to definitely go over there and shoot his house, because I truly got lost in it a few times. It’s hard to put into words how massive this house is.
When you walk through the gates — yes, there are gates — there’s a pool off to the side and there’s a little gazebo area with a little bar and a TV. Walk into the house and there’s a huge living room with a huge kitchen area. Off to the left is a dining room and then to the left of that is another big living room. Then when you walk downstairs there’s a lounge area with another bar and TV. Then you walk on the other side of the room and there’s another lounge area with a pool table, and then there’s another lounge area with a ton of recliners and another TV. Then if you go straight you’ll walk into a huge movie theatre area. I didn’t even get to see the upstairs.
Needless to say, this house was unbelievable! The food was great too… One of the coaches cooked some real good barbecue. That night the players took me out again. We had a great time just seeing the social atmosphere at KU.
The morning before I left I had some good one-on-one time with Coach Self and we went back to the office and talked a little more and then I left.
After three visits it’s still difficult to compare them. At North Carolina I had only been down there once briefly. Then I went back and I got to see them in action. I saw the alumni, the history and the players and that was a great time. Then I went to OU, who I’d never seen before, and everything there was just brand new. I got to hangout with Coach (Jeff) Capel and all the players and that was great. So then I go to Late Night at KU and, even though I had been to it before, it was just great to go back and hang out with the guys. I’m getting a lot of different feels about the colleges.
I think this weekend when I go back to Duke it’s gonna be good for me to hear their last pitch. It’s kind of a big deal because I’ve been down there so many times and now that I’m on an official I’m curious to see how it goes. Official visits are gonna be the last thing I remember about the universities since I’m signing in November. I’m sure that Duke will show me a good time.
I’ll let you guys know all about it next week.
Source Link
As he navigates through the hectic recruiting process, HighSchoolHoop’s top-rated player, Ames High (IA) swingman Harrison Barnes has agreed to chronicle his thoughts for us during each of his five official visits. First was North Carolina, then Oklahoma; now Barnes shares his experiences from his official visit to Kansas for “Late Night in the Phog” during the weekend of Oct. 16 …
I got there Friday morning. My family and I drove and when we got to campus we met up with Coach (Danny) Manning, who took us over to meet the Dean of the school. She was a little new to the university, but she gave a great presentation. She gave us a good feel for the campus. After that, we took a little tour and saw where I would eat and some hangouts and things like that. Then we went over to Allen Fieldhouse.
They had made some upgrades since I had been there a year before at Late Night. I got to see the new weight room, the new player’s lounge, the locker rooms, the new practice floor … It was a really good time. Then I got a chance to see the guys play a little pickup. I didn’t play. I could have, but I opted not to. I needed some rest. That night we ate dinner at Phog Allen and that was cool.
We got a chance to hang out with the players, and then before everything started, we were escorted to the front row for Late Night. I had been down there the year before to see them raise their banner, which was really special. I thought this year was really good, too. It was funny to see guys like Xavier Henry and Elijah Johnson, who I had seen Late Night with the year before, out there doing the Old School skits. Just seeing Sherron Collins and Mario Little do their thing out there was cool.
Late Night was great, I really had a great time. After that, the players took Doron Lamb and I out and they showed us a real good time. It was a good chance to hang out with the players and get to know them. We enjoyed that a lot.
The next morning we had breakfast and then had a meeting with the business school. We came back to the gym after that and I watched a practice then I worked out myself. I was a little tired so I came back to the hotel and relaxed. Then I got up and watched another individual workout. It was a good time for me to see how Coach (Bill) Self coaches, how his players respond to him, how good the relationships are and how good he handled the players. That was a good experience.
After seeing them practice and play, I can see why people say that they’re No. 1 in the country. They have a great point guard in Sherron, and I think Cole Aldrich is one of the best big men in the country. Then they’ve got a lot of great players and the Morris twins. I think they’ll get a lot of good production from Xavier and Thomas Robinson, and I think Tyshawn Taylor is gonna surprise a lot of people this year too.
So Saturday night I had a chance to go over Coach Self’s house for dinner, and it is by far the greatest house that I’ve ever seen in my life. I think that “MTV Cribs” needs to definitely go over there and shoot his house, because I truly got lost in it a few times. It’s hard to put into words how massive this house is.
When you walk through the gates — yes, there are gates — there’s a pool off to the side and there’s a little gazebo area with a little bar and a TV. Walk into the house and there’s a huge living room with a huge kitchen area. Off to the left is a dining room and then to the left of that is another big living room. Then when you walk downstairs there’s a lounge area with another bar and TV. Then you walk on the other side of the room and there’s another lounge area with a pool table, and then there’s another lounge area with a ton of recliners and another TV. Then if you go straight you’ll walk into a huge movie theatre area. I didn’t even get to see the upstairs.
Needless to say, this house was unbelievable! The food was great too… One of the coaches cooked some real good barbecue. That night the players took me out again. We had a great time just seeing the social atmosphere at KU.
The morning before I left I had some good one-on-one time with Coach Self and we went back to the office and talked a little more and then I left.
After three visits it’s still difficult to compare them. At North Carolina I had only been down there once briefly. Then I went back and I got to see them in action. I saw the alumni, the history and the players and that was a great time. Then I went to OU, who I’d never seen before, and everything there was just brand new. I got to hangout with Coach (Jeff) Capel and all the players and that was great. So then I go to Late Night at KU and, even though I had been to it before, it was just great to go back and hang out with the guys. I’m getting a lot of different feels about the colleges.
I think this weekend when I go back to Duke it’s gonna be good for me to hear their last pitch. It’s kind of a big deal because I’ve been down there so many times and now that I’m on an official I’m curious to see how it goes. Official visits are gonna be the last thing I remember about the universities since I’m signing in November. I’m sure that Duke will show me a good time.
I’ll let you guys know all about it next week.
