Harrison Barnes: Back for more

The scene was like something from Hoosiers. It’s not a perfect comparison, but it will do.

Harrison Barnes filled the role of Jimmy Chitwood, not because he took a while to start playing, although that isn’t too big of a stretch. More than anything, Barnes, like Chitwood, was simply the best player on the floor that game.

And it wasn’t even close.

The scene? North Carolina’s 92-87 overtime win against Clemson in the ACC tournament last season, when Barnes put to bed his inconsistent freshmen season with his largest scoring outburst.

“I saw it coming in practice, it just didn’t transfer over in games as quickly as he wanted it to or as quickly as me and the rest of the coaches and his teammates wanted,” UNC men’s basketball coach Roy Williams said.

“He’s an extremely focused young man. I really believe he’s prepared himself in the spring and summer to have a great, great year.”

In that game, Barnes didn’t shoot much more than he had in other contests that year. The difference was he finished 12-for-17 from the field, 6-for-8 from the three point line, and made 10-of-11 free throws.

He just shot better.

And for Barnes to continue that success and reach the goals that North Carolina has, he knows he’s going to have to turn in more games just like that.

“Hopefully we don’t see that guy,” Barnes said, addressing his spotty shooting last season. “He missed a lot of shots.”

That was especially true at the start of the season when Barnes struggled most.

“Last year was kind of the curtain was down and you were just supposed to walk out there and be Elvis,” Barnes said.

But if eveyone could do it, then Elvis wouldn’t be the King of Rock and Roll.

During Barnes’ final 10 games of the season, the 6-foot-8 wingman averaged 21.5 points per game, shot 46.5 percent from the floor and 38.7 percent from long range.

Those who spent time with him over the summer expect that to carry over.

“I think we’ll see a lot more efficient Harrison Barnes,” UNC point guard Kendall Marshall said. “He’s learned not to use as many dribbles, as much energy, trying to create a shot, and as well as a more aggressive Harrison.”

But it’s easy to forget amid the preseason rankings and hype that this team could have easily looked different had Barnes and other players not returned for this season.

Barnes was a projected lottery pick and maybe a top five pick in the 2011 NBA draft, while teammates John Henson and Tyler Zeller could have easily gone in the first round.

Barnes, who announced that he would be returning for his sophomore season on April 18, was the last to make his decision.

“It says a lot about the young man, and what he was looking for in his college education,” Williams said. “It says a lot about his teammates and that he really enjoyed college basketball.

“Every team that I’ve ever had this discussion with, I told them ‘Do what you want to do.’ Tyler Hansbrough kept coming back because he wanted to do that.”

There are a lot of similarities between Hansbrough’s 2009 NCAA championship team and this year’s squad.

Both Tar Heel teams fell short the previous year in the later stages of the NCAA tournament. Barnes said the team didn’t really realize how close it was last year until after it lost in the Elite Eight to Kentucky.

“Just kind of sitting there for a while thinking, ‘Wow look how far we went, how close we were.’ It killed you for a while,” he said.

With its entire starting lineup returning, UNC is ranked the No. 1 team this preseason, just like the 2009 team started its season on top of the nation.

But perhaps no comparison is more intriguing than the one between Barnes and Hansbrough. They’re two very different players. One was psycho, the other psychoanalytic.

At their core, however, the two are very similar.

Hansbrough saw the game one way.

“It was, ‘Give me the ball, I’m putting it in that basket,” Williams said.

Barnes isn’t so different.

“The boy scores the ball,” Williams said. “That’s the biggest talent that he has.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.