Biography
By Jim Hague
It’s safe to say that Phil Barnes was a late bloomer.
Literally.
When Barnes, currently a junior on the Rutgers-Newark men’s basketball team, was a high school student at Middlesex High School in New Jersey, he was a 6-foot-2 shooting guard.
“I knew I could shoot a little and I could handle it pretty well,” Barnes said.
And Barnes didn’t receive a lot of interest from the college recruiters, except for perhaps Rutgers-Newark.
“My father lives in Newark, so it was close to home,” Barnes said. “I knew a little about the school and I had a cousin who came here. So I felt comfortable here.”
“When we recruited him, he played more on the perimeter and he was real young,” Rutgers-Newark head coach Joe Loughran said. “We recruited him on the upside. He thought he could develop into something, because he was an athletic player.”
It also helped that Barnes came from the same school that once sent Asmar Fortney, one of the Scarlet Raiders’ all-time leading scorers and former assistant coach, to R-N.
But no one expected what would take place. Mother Nature stepped in and put a major growth spurt in Barnes’ legs. In the summer before Barnes arrived at R-N, he amazingly grew three inches.
“I grew from 6-2 to like 6-5,” Barnes said. “I sensed I was getting taller, because I was never taller than my father and he’s 6-4. But that summer, I stood next to my father and I was taller. I was shocked. It happened over the summer. I couldn’t believe that happened.”
But the growth spurt had to change the way Barnes played the game.
“Since I grew so much, I had to change the way I dribbled the basketball,” Barnes said. “I had to then pick my spots to go to the perimeter. I had to become an inside player.”
Loughran wasn’t disappointed that Barnes experienced a sudden growth spurt.
“He turned out to be better than we thought,” Loughran said.
However, Barnes had to become more comfortable with his new frame -- and that set him back a little when he first arrived at R-N.
“When I first came here, I couldn’t jump,” Barnes said. “I could barely dunk. My teammates made fun of me. But I kept trying and trying.”
“He just wasn’t ready physically to help us right away,” Loughran said. “He learned a lot, because he was a good student of the game and he has a good basketball IQ, but as he got bigger and stronger, he developed into a nice inside player.”
Barnes saw limited action as a freshman, but he played a major role with the Scarlet Raiders as a sophomore.
After a handful of inside players went down with injuries, Loughran turned to Barnes and Barnes performed.
“Early in the season, he came off the bench and developed a role,” Loughran said. “But we had a few injuries and Phil came on and played well.”
Barnes averaged 7.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game for the season, starting 12 of the last 13 games. His best performance came when he had 12 points and 16 rebounds in a game against Brooklyn College in the ECAC Division III Metro tournament. He also had 17 points and 10 rebounds in a win over NJAC rival New Jersey City University.
“I always knew that I could play, but I just didn’t expect to play such a big role,” Barnes said. “I was definitely ready for it. Coach Loughran always says that you have to be ready all the time, because you never know when you’re going to be called upon.”
As Barnes entered his junior year, he now stands at 6-foot-6, growing an amazing four inches since he graduated high school. He has also developed into one of the most forceful presences in the NJAC, with his 7.1 rebound-per-game average currently third in the league.
“You could see from the preseason that Phil was a very confident player,” Loughran said. “He was really starting to get into a flow and rebounding the way he should. He is a presence. Rebounding is his thing. He has the ability to go and get the ball. Plus, his 15-foot jump shot is pretty solid. We’re working on improving his range to the 3-point line.”
Barnes has also been electrifying the Scarlet Raider faithful with his high-flying ability to play above the rim, either leaping high to snare a rebound or throwing down a monstrous dunk.
“I know that I had to be a little more aggressive and assert myself more,” Barnes said. “Over the course of time, I’ve been able to jump higher and higher and when I go up now, it just gets everyone excited, the crowd, the team, they like to see me get up there and get the ball.”
Loughran believes that Barnes’ overall talents are just beginning to surface.
“I do tell him that he has to get in the weight room more and get a little stronger,” Loughran said. “He could get so much better if he was in the weight room more. I don’t know what the future holds for him, but he can be really good. He could become an all-league player if he invests enough time in the weight room. Once he matures, he’s going to be really good.”
But Loughran likes what he has now from Barnes.
“He plays with a lot of emotion and I like that,” Loughran said. “You can see that he cares about basketball and cares about the team. He wants to get better all the time. He’s a smarter player now and he’s maturing. He’s grown emotionally and he now has experience. He’s also a very likeable guy and his teammates really like him. He leads by example. He’s a good team player.”
Barnes is currently majoring in finance at R-N. After his playing days are done, he hopes to become a financial analyst for athletes or even venture into the world of becoming a sports agent.
For now, Phil Barnes’ basketball career is growing almost as fast as he has physically – in almost skyrocketing fashion.
