by Alex Schwartz

About a week and a half ago, Will Barton ’10 of Lake Clifton (MD) made one college program very happy. The 6’6 shooting guard, along with his younger brother Antonio Barton ’10, committed to the Memphis, while at the school’s Elite Camp. A big-time talent who is regarded as one of top players in the nation, Barton was a huge coup for Josh Pastner, who beat out his former boss John Calipari and the University of Kentucky—amongst others—to land the rising senior. A few hours before Barton made his pledge to the Tigers, I caught up with him for an interview. Then came the news that he had taken his name off the board, and Will was kind enough to chat with me once again.

Before pledging to the C-USA power, the Nike Baltimore Elite AAU baller informed me that he was considering Memphis, Kentucky, Xavier, Louisville, Texas, Florida, Kansas, Oklahoma, Kansas State, Indiana, Maryland, Pitt, Marquette, South Florida, Tennessee, Miami, North Carolina State, Syracuse, and Providence, claiming offers from all 19 of those institutions. At that point, Barton said he was still unsure if he would to go to school with Antonio. “It depends if it’s what’s best for us and [if it’s] the right situation.” In fact, when I inquired as to whether not he would go to college with Antonio if it was all up to him, he replied, “I don’t know. We got to see.” Memphis was one of seven schools, along with Maryland, Miami, South Florida, Providence, Xavier, and Syracuse, that Will said were recruiting both him and his brother. Barton may well have just been playing things close to the vest, as he and his brother popped for Memphis just a few hours later.

When Barton told me that his decision to cut down his list and commit “could happen anytime,” he really meant it. Will stated the following when I asked him what he was looking for in a school: “Family atmosphere, great coach, somewhere where they can help me get to the next level, and a good academic school.” As for how long he plans to stay in the NCAA, he remarked, “I’m going to stay in school as long as it takes, until I’m ready for the next level.” Barton, who said he did “not really” have a dream school, told me that he would compare his game to “wings like Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Joe Johnson, and Jamal Crawford.” What does Barton see as the strongest and weakest points of his game? “I’m very versatile. I can score at will, but I get my teammates involved, and I make my teammates better. I need to get stronger.“"It was coming down here for the Elite Camp. They showed me a lot of love and a lot of support. My brother and I already had a good relationship with the coaches. . . . It’s a great city. I just felt at home,” stated Will on how he chose Memphis. I asked him if he was actually always planning to go to school with Antonio, a gifted point guard, and he gave me a similar answer to what he had told me earlier. “It was just whatever was going to be the best situation for, but we chose staying together. . . . That was the best situation.

”What were Will’s other finalists? “I liked a lot of schools, but I’d say Kentucky and Xavier.” Interestingly, both those schools, as well as Memphis, recently underwent coaching changes. Although the Wildcats and Musketeers are probably not too happy that Barton has selected a school, the player himself is. “It feels good man, to get it out of the way. I’m ecstatic.”

When some players commit to a school, they decide to help push others to do the same, while others do not. Barton knows what he will be doing. “I’m going to push them to join me. I’ve already talked to Joe [Jackson] and Tarik [Black]. We [are] trying to get one of the best recruiting classes in the country for our class.” That means that within just a few hours of becoming part of the future of the Memphis program, he was already trying to get two major targets to join him.

There are a few players who have been in the news just about every weekend this spring due to their outstanding play: Will Barton, Harrison Barnes ’10, Kyrie Irving ’10, and CJ Leslie ’10. Barton has an idea of why it is that he seems to excel at every tournament. “Just staying in the gym, [and] exposure, a lot of exposure. People [are] realizing how good I am.”

Despite his Lake Clifton squad going undefeated this season and Tennessee-commit Josh Selby ’10 transferring to the school,
Barton will not be back next year. “I will be a 5^th year senior,” stated Barton, as to why he will be leaving. He had told me he was considering Brewster Academy (NH), Findlay Prep (NV), Mountain State Academy (NV), and South Kent (CT), but according to Jeff Goodman’s College Hoop Blog on FOXSports.com, he has decided on Brewster, which was ranked as the top prep school in the nation much of last year. As for whether or not he would go to school with Antonio, Will said, “It depends if it’s the right situation.” Even after the duo both pledged to Memphis, Barton told me, “That’s still up in the air right now.”

Will Barton is headed to the University of Memphis, and so is his brother Antonio. Clearly, even though John Calipari has left for Lexington, the program remains strong.

Note- photo is from http://scouthoops.scout.com/