CHAPEL HILL — There’s little doubt that North Carolina freshman Harrison Barnes has plenty of the tools to achieve basketball stardom. He’s got the frame, the hunger and the trophy case that speak to his lofty potential.
He’s even got a cool nickname: The Black Falcon.
The moniker was given to him during a high school all-star game. Fellow participant Jared Sullinger, now at Ohio State, was deemed “Big Smooth” while Duke freshman Kyrie Irving was given the name “Time” because, he said, no one could stop him.
Barnes’ was inspired by some other famous nicknames.
“I wanted mine to be an animal,” Barnes said. “Because Michael Jordan was named the Black Cat. Kobe (Bryant) was named the Black Mamba. … They just gave me the Black Falcon.”
Barnes’ up-and-down freshman season has shown that he has a few more elements to add to his game before he reaches the finished product stages. But one quality has been extremely noticeable in recent games.
Barnes’ game-winning 3-pointer in the final seconds of Wednesday night’s 74-71 victory at Miami was another moment in which Barnes has shown that he is can be described as unmistakably clutch.
“I think it’s great because it adds confidence to my overall game it allowed us to win the game,” Barnes said. “But in terms of quieting down the (criticism), it’s going to happen regardless.”
Already this season, he provided final-minute heroics in a victory against Virginia Tech, a key game-tying 3 in a loss against Texas and a key late basket in a victory against Clemson.
“I’m almost hesitant to talk about it because he might miss his next 3,000,” said North Carolina coach Roy Williams, whose team plays host to North Carolina State this afternoon. “It takes a special kind of youngster to be willing to take that shot. And, I’ll go back to a word that I’ve used with him many times, he’s so focused. He’s not bothered by that shot. He’s gone through the repetitions, he’s imagined those things happening so many times. So now, it’s reality and it’s not that much different for him.”
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