By Taylor Lupetti (@tayclupetti):
It has been four years since the San Jose State men’s basketball team has had a player from outside of North America on its roster, until now. Joining the team this season is junior center Oumar Barry of Conakry, Guinea.
Growing up five siblings, Barry’s inspiration to play the game came from his older brother along with a coach/family friend who encouraged him to pick up a ball.
“My brother was playing basketball and I was really young, growing up very fast, like height-wise,” Barry said. “He had a coach that used to come over to our house all the time and he would tell my brother, ‘hey, get your brother to the gym so he can work out with us,’ and that’s how I started.”
While the club Barry played in with his older brother was a team of sorts, the center didn’t join his first organized team until he came to the United States in August of 2013 and played for Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington, Va. When he graduated in 2015, Barry was ranked 12th on the Virginia prospects list according to San Jose State Athletics.
After graduating from Bishop O’Connell, Barry went on to play for DePaul University in the Big East Conference for the 2015-16 season, an experience that was less rewarding than he had hoped.
“It was OK,” Barry said. “I was playing some games but not a lot of games so I ended up leaving because of playing time.”
Leaving DePaul at the end of the season proved to be a beneficial step in Barry’s career as he transitioned to Iowa Western Community College where he played 32 games, almost three times more than he played at DePaul. At the end of the 2016-17 season in Iowa, Barry transferred to San Jose.
“I got better playing with Iowa,” Barry said. “Then, coach Woj (former head coach Dave Wojcik) came there and recruited me before he unfortunately resigned and left.”
Stepping into Wojcik’s shoes this season is Jean Prioleau. While Prioleau joined the team in the middle of the offseason, he sees Barry as a player to trust with shaping the team.
“He does have a leadership role,” Prioleau said. “He brings some experience from his time at DePaul and Iowa and just playing and logging games. He brings something to the court.”
In addition to adding his playing expertise to the team, Barry is one of two players standing at 6-foot-11, the tallest on the team, alongside sophomore center Ashtin Chastain.
The 2017-18 season is just around the corner for SJSU giving Barry plenty to be excited about, as it will be his first time playing in the Event Center at SJSU.
“I’m looking forward to a big crowd that will come to support,” Barry said. “I would love that. That’s going to be fun.”
The yearning to play in the Event Center is something that Barry has been talking about to anyone that will listen, including his teammates.
“Oumar is a cool guy,” said sophomore guard Isaiah Nichols. “He’s definitely excited to play in Division I level and he is really excited to make his debut as a Spartan, we both are looking forward to it and I know he is going to do good.”
Fans of the team may not know the name Oumar Barry yet, but after this season, there’s a strong chance they will.