North Carolina freshman Barnes has found his way after slow start

NEWARK, N.J. - Four of the top 10 touted freshmen in the class of 2010 will play tonight at the Prudential Center in the NCAA East Regional. Three of them had instant success and sustained it. The fourth, the player voted a preseason first-team All-America, the most highly acclaimed of the class, shot 0-for-12 against Minnesota, 3-for-12 against Charleston, 2-for-9 against Illinois and 3-for-11 against Evansville.

Jared Sullinger (Ohio State) had 26 points and 10 rebounds in his second game, a Buckeyes rout at Florida on Nov. 16. He averaged a double-double and was a force all season for the No. 1 team. Brandon Knight (Kentucky) scored 17, 21, 13 and 24 in his first four games. Terrence Jones (Kentucky) had 25, 12, 29, 16, 24 and 18 in his first six games.

Harrison Barnes (North Carolina) looked lost for 2 months. The freshman from Ames, Iowa, was the can't-miss player in the class. Only he was missing shot after shot.

Then, on Jan. 26 at Miami, Barnes, shooting 2-for-9 at the time, tied the game with a long jumper late. Then, he nailed a game-winning three in the final seconds. From that night to this day, Barnes has been everything that was expected and more.

Which is one of the major reasons North Carolina is favored to beat Marquette in tonight's first game and get a shot at the Final Four on Sunday against the Ohio State-Kentucky winner.

"It was probably after the Miami game [when he got comfortable]," Barnes said. "That was a really big shot I hit. That kind of was a little bit of an icebreaker."

Failure was not something he was familiar with.

"Up until college, I had never had an adverse situation on the basketball court," Barnes said. "Eventually, I knew I'd come through. Eventually."

Marquette's Jimmy Butler is going to guard Barnes tonight.

"He can do it all," Butler said. "He is athletic, he can score and dribble, he rebounds. But you just have to make him uncomfortable, just like anybody else. You have to pick up his space and make him feel like he has to work for every dribble and every move that he makes."

Lately, nobody has been able to make Barnes uncomfortable because he has gotten very comfortable.

"Back in December, we had a lot of different players, lot of different rotations," Barnes said. "My role really wasn't defined at that point. Now, I know [what is expected] every time I walk on the floor."

Barnes is very friendly with Sullinger and Duke's Kyrie Irving, another freshman who had instant success before injuring his toe.

"Their road was much easier than mine," Barnes said. "Talking to them, life was great on their end. They just encouraged me. Now that I'm in a much better situation, life is good so I might have a chance to play both of them if things go well."

He watched the NCAA Tournament growing up, remembering "Carmelo in '03, Kevin Durant at Texas, the Kansas national championship team, when Mario Chalmers hit the shot, the '09 national championship here [at UNC]."

The 6-8 Barnes has classic small-forward skills. And he showed his entire game down the stretch. He scored 40 against Clemson in the ACC Tournament semifinals. He has made one big shot after another. He has averaged 22.1 points over his last eight games. His 46 points are the most by a UNC freshman in his first two NCAA games.

His next loss, however, could be his last game at UNC. The NBA will be calling.

Has he looked at the mock drafts?

"I saw them in high school, but I don't really follow it now," Barnes said.

Does he realize he is in the top five of most mocks?

"It's a mock draft," Barnes said. "I'm not exactly going to walk there tomorrow and put on a hat."

The trip across the Hudson can wait for this June or some June. Right now, there are some more games to play.

John Calipari is finishing his second season at Kentucky. He gets most of the best high school players. He has not lost a game at Rupp Arena, always a positive when the most intense fans in college hoops are scrutinizing every move.

Coach Cal has been at Massachusetts and Memphis, with a short NBA stint in between. Nothing is like Kentucky.

"It's different," he said. "It's different than any other program. I know there are programs that are connected to their state, but none like this. And they breathe with every shot. Inhale, exhale. You make it, exhale. You miss it . . .

"That's just how they are and they are everywhere. Everywhere we go they figure out how to get tickets. I don't know how they do it. A lot of them are taking every penny they have to go on a vacation or whatever else to just go to the SEC Tournament or follow the team in the NCAA Tournament because they can't get tickets in Rupp.

"We play whoever, it doesn't matter. There are 25,000 people in that building. And the upper deck, they are there an hour before because they drove from eastern Kentucky. It is just a unique thing. There is such a connection to the people of the state and the program." *