Barford collecting plenty of college offers this summer

Jaylen Barford left an impression with some college basketball coaches his senior year at South Side as he helped lead the Hawks to the 2014 Class AA state championship.

But his play during his freshman year at Motlow State Community College has even more coaches wanting his skill set at their institution.

During his freshman year, Barford — a 6-foot-3, 200-pound guard — averaged 20.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 2.4 steals. He shot 53 percent from the field and 70 percent from the free throw line.

"I feel like I have gotten stronger and quicker," Barford said. "My shot has gotten better, and my court IQ got better as the year progressed."

The result is a long list of offers from many top level programs like Auburn, Mississippi State, Tulsa, VCU, Ole Miss, Texas Tech, Alabama, Missouri, Wichita State, Cincinnati, East Tennessee State, Arkansas State and Duquesne.

"It is a great feeling that teams want you to play on that level," Barford said. "I have to keep myself humble because it can be taken away from me at any time."

The offers are still coming in this summer as he got three more offers this past week.

"After going to a camp in Atlanta last week, I got new offers from Tennessee, Oklahoma State and UNC Charlotte," Barford said.

The camp that Barford went to last weekend was the JUCO Showcase Elite 80 camp in Atlanta, and he also went to the Mullen Sports Junior College Top 100 Camp in St. Louis.

The website 247sports.com has ranked Barford as the No. 1 player JUCO player in the country in the class of 2016. He hoped to have the list narrowed down to his top five in the next couple of weeks.

"It means a lot, but more than anything, it makes me work even harder," Barford said. "Everybody in the country wants that honor, and they will be coming after it. There are some good players on good teams."

After averaging 22.5 points and 7.0 rebounds as a senior at South Side, Barford had a few teams after him, but he is happy with the decision he made to go to a community college.

"Motlow State has taught me a lot on and off the court," he said.

One of those things that has changed is his study habits.

"I feel like I study a lot more than I did in high school," he said. "I take school more seriously, and I have my focus on school and basketball."

His goals for his second and final season at Motlow State are not much different than the ones he had in high school.

"I want to win a conference title and a national championship," Barford said. "I want to be a leader for my team."

Michael Odom, 425-9754