University of North Carolina Athletics
Brownlow: Return of Barry Gives Tar Heels a Spark
December 31, 2008 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 31, 2008
By Lauren Brownlow
There were five minutes left in the game and Carolina was up 86-46, yet a simple substitution injected a different energy into the team. The Tar Heel bench was up and loud, encouraging their teammates. Nicole Powell went flying out of bounds to save a loose ball to Laura Broomfield, who couldn't convert it, but she hustled back down court to steal the ball and laid it in. The line-up was constantly on the floor scrapping for loose balls, hustling on both ends and seemed to have boundless energy.
That spark was provided when Laura Barry, a redshirt senior, went to the scorer's table to check into the game for the first time all season. There were large grins and loud cheers abound on the Tar Heel bench and in the crowd, which gave Barry a standing ovation. When her two three-pointers rimmed out, a collective groan erupted that got louder the second time when the ball literally rolled inside and popped out.
But it didn't matter. The fact that she is playing at all right now is amazing enough.
Barry transferred to Carolina from UNC-Wilmington after the 2004-05 season. She may be significantly older than most of her teammates, but their reaction when she entered the game said it all about her effect on her teammates. "She's just a great person," Hatchell said. "The kids love her to death. They were excited because she tore her ACL in June and worked very, very hard. She's back probably two months earlier than most people usually are with an injury like that and that's because of her hard work. That's why we were all happy to see her back out there."
And she is an inspiration. She's not the tallest player on the court at 5-8 and she certainly isn't blessed with the athleticism of some of her teammates, but her court vision, savvy and hustle are all evident any time she gets in the game, even if it's usually only at the tail end of blowout Carolina victories. Her presence in practice the last three seasons has helped Carolina to a combined 81-7 record. The two-time Dean's List honoree has that `it' factor when it comes to basketball and to life in general.
"She would make a great coach because she sees the whole thing out there," Hatchell said. "She knows every offense. She could probably quote you a scouting report on every team we play. She's just a very smart, intelligent young lady, a good athlete. I think she's going to go into coaching because I think she would make an excellent, excellent coach."
That kind of presence is great to have on this year's team and is indicative of all five seniors - Barry, Heather Claytor, Iman McFarland, Rashanda McCants and Alex Miller - consummate scrappers who work hard on and off the court. Still, this team has struggled with the one thing Hatchell insists on - rebounding. Often, that is a skill that is just as much about hustle as it is about athleticism.
If this team could combine its speed with the court vision and hustle of a Laura Barry, it would be absolutely unstoppable. And it still has time to do just that. Hatchell came close to employing the John Wooden axiom after the game when it comes to this team: "Be quick, but don't hurry." She wants her team to jet up and down the court in transition, but wasn't pleased that passes were often too hard or too fancy, resulting in turnovers. Being fast with the ball and making good decisions don't necessarily go hand in hand.
"I felt like we had probably five or six turnovers that they really shouldn't have been if we had just made a better decision or with our passes, leading away from the defense or drawing the defense and then making the pass, things like that," Hatchell said. "But they are things that we can get better on, and we will. This team is not near as good as it's going to be. We're just going to stay positive and keep working hard, because I know that this team still has a lot of room to grow."
