Barry is one of the most gifted talents the basketball world has ever seen.  He has all of the tools.  He is an incredible shooter who can fire away from long distance or drive to the hoop and put up an incredible array of one handed off balance shots.  The 6’7  forward is accurate from anywhere and may be the best free throw shooter (yes he shoots them granny style) in the world.  He plays forward but had the ball handling skills of a point guard.  A terrific passer and solid rebounder, Barry’s best strength is his tenacity and leadership.   Imagine how bad this team would have been without him.  Ironically the only reason that Barry stayed at Miami through all their problems was because he had fallen in love with Coach Bruce Hale’s daughter.  He even sat out waiting for the Hurricanes to return as a favor to Hale as he was hired to get the program restarted and they wanted their star back  Barry could have went and played with anyone after they shut down the program and he most definitely would have made any contender pretty impossible to beat.  Just Imagine the outspoken Barry  mixing things up in New York where he is from and playing for St. John’s next to Chris Mullin?  Of course Barry likes it in a place where he is the biggest fish in the seas and that is definitely the case in Miami.  You may think that Barry is a stat accumulator that is selfish and only out for personal glory.  Some people surmise this and those people are wrong.  Barry may have an ego the size of the Caribbean but he as unselfish of a player and as good of a leader as there is.  If the players around him are willing to work as hard as he does?  And that is a big if?  Especially in a city that has as many distractions as Miami does. 

Senior Don Curnutt was the only consistent force in the team’s first year back.  A terrific shooter who has fallen in love with the three point line Curnutt has the size at 6’3 to get his shot off and can also get to the hoop.  Cornutt was a stud in Indiana in High School and was part of an Indiana connection established by Hale that basically created this program.  In Barry’s absence he easily led the team in scoring and should be a nice second fiddle this year as he will open up the court for his teammates.  Curnutt is also a terrific passer who has played his fair share of point (out of need on this team) but is better suited doing what he does best which is shoot the ball.  He might not be Jimmy Walker or Dave Bing but Curnutt is a solid two guard who knows how to score.  Undersized back court mate Dick Hickox has been the primary point guard for this team since he got here from Ft. Wayne Indiana.  Hickox is cat quick but at five foot eight and can score but has a hard time guarding anyone especially in this conference.  If this this is indeed the starting backcourt it will be like a sieve defensively.  Many of the eligible players who helped build this program are not coming back for more or are long shots to make the team.  Potential seniors Gene Stage, Ken Allen, Junior Gee, Abe Friedman and Sy Chadroff will not be returning with ‘The Bronx Bomber’ being the biggest subtraction.  ‘Windows’ as he was dubbed as he wore thick glasses from the Bronx (many East Coast kids migrated south to Miami back in the day) but was the first star here and man could he could score.  Fellow Big Apple stud Julie Cohen (Brooklyn), a true point guard, and the aptly named Dick Miani will be back and competing for playing time. Hale will be bringing in some more athletic guards to compete here and there is a good chance the veterans will be losing playing time if not their starting role though it is hard to see Curnutt not playing extensively even with his defensive weaknesses.

The Hurricanes do have a couple of true seven footers on their roster foremost of which is Senior Mike McCoy.  McCoy is another Indiana boy (Ft. Wayne again) who goes 7’1 235 and is a good offensive player.  McCoy was a high school stud in the Hoosier state and first attended Northwestern but transferred down here.  He, like Barry, sat out last year but if this team is going to shock it will be because of him.  Seven footers with his offensive skill set do not just roll up on the shores but whether or not he can hang with the beasts of the east is another question.  If he does the Hurricanes might have a chance of winning a few games.  Another transfer, Bill Soens, this time from Philly (Villanova) has some size at 6’8 230 and can bang and is definitely in the mix for PT this year.  JC transfer Wayne Canady came down from Indy last year and performed well in the post in limited minutes and at 6’7 220 has some size.  Rod Godrey who would have been a senior but is vastly undersized at 6’4, has decided to become a coach instead of returning and Hale has placed him in charge of the JV team after a solid career in Coral Gables. Junior Will Allen was huge last year and looks to get more minutes.  Allen from Rockville Maryland (Rockman he’s just made of bricks) only goes 6’6 but is a muscular 230 and can really board.  He will play as he has a heck of a work ethic and loves playing here but is he big enough for this league?  Whatever Allen does this kid is destined to be a success as he has made it clear he ‘wants to change the world!’  Allen is foremost of the guys looking to play next to Barry at the four but Hale does have a couple of other returning forwards who can play.  Mike Wittman, Rusty Parker and Ed Morris will compete for time with Whitman having the best chance.  None are big enough at 6’6, 6’6 and 6’4 but they are gamers and will get their shot though supposedly Hale has recruited mighty heavily at the forward position with Barry being his poster boy!