Being the son of NBA royalty is not easy, but Florida basketball’s Canyon Barry has shown the college basketball world that he is more than just Rick’s son.
As a basketball fan, there is a fairly obvious name that immediately comes to my mind when hearing the last name Barry, and it is definitely not Canyon.
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That name would be Rick.
Rick Barry is one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history. He won the 1975 NBA championship with the Golden State Warriors and averaged close to 25 points per game throughout his 15 combined seasons in the ABA and NBA. He had four sons who would go on to play professional basketball (Drew, Jon, Brent and Scooter), and all are long retired, with Brent and Jon now being most well known for their broadcasting.
So, I guess you can assume the days of the Barrys competing in notable basketball games are over, right? Wrong. In steps Canyon.
Canyon Barry was the only son Rick had with his third wife, Lynn, and he graduated from the College of Charleston last spring. He still had a year of eligibility remaining after redshirting his freshman season and wanted to compete in major conference basketball. Florida was an obvious choice because he felt he could make an immediate impact at a high-level program, and there is also the small matter of his nuclear engineering major of which UF has one of the top programs in the country.
Canyon averaged 19.7 points in his final season in Charleston and has been a revelation coming off the bench for the Gators this year.
The graduate senior swingman is second on the team in scoring (12.8 points) and offensive rating. Canyon was such a coveted transfer in large part because of his shooting — he averaged almost two triples per game at the College of Charleston — but has proven to be so much more than just a marksmen.
His defense has been surprisingly solid on the wing. He is quick enough to stay with guards, and stout enough at a strong 6’6″ to hang with forwards. Canyon has also been surprisingly effective going to the basket and has shown a knack for getting to the line. He is averaging four free throw attempts per game and shooting 89 percent from the charity stripe – the third-best mark in the SEC.
Oh, and, by the way, backtracking to his father, Rick, if you know anything about the former NBA All-Star it is probably that he shot free throws like this:
And guess who else shoots free throws granny style?
Yes, that’s right, Canyon does.
It is probably impossible enough to escape from his father’s shadow, so the fact that he has fully embraced his role in the basketball world and adopted the thing that made his dad famous says a lot about his character. Yes, it looks funny and yes, it makes for a great video clip but, more than anything, it tells you everything you need to know about Canyon: he’ll do whatever it takes to win.
That attitude has clearly spread to the rest of the Gators this season, as they have put together an improbable run that has catapulted them to seventh in the current KenPom rankings.
No one really gave Florida a shot this year, and this was in large part because they were filled with players just like Canyon. Guys who have had success in the past, but are not really thought of as among college basketball’s elite.
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That narrative was officially squashed Saturday after their 88-66 trouncing of Kentucky, as the Gators now find themselves 18-5 as well as 8-2 in the SEC. They are right in the middle of the race for the league championship, and Canyon Barry has emerged as being so much more than just Rick’s son.