Canyon Barry is one of the newest members to the Florida Gators basketball team, but he is no freshman. Barry spent his first four seasons at the College of Charleston, and was the top graduate transfer prospect in the country for 2016. Florida managed to swipe him up over Northwestern and Miami for his final season of eligibility.
“It was kind of a whirlwind after I decided I was gonna transfer,” he said. “I felt really blessed by all the coaches that contacted me and all the offers I had, but really when it came down to the end of it I think Florida was the best fit for me, both academically and athletically.”
Barry redshirted as a true freshman at Charleston before going on to average 12.8 points per game over the span of his career. Before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury last season, he was averaging 19.7 points per game and 34.4 percent from the three-point line.
He could be a key to Florida’s offensive game this season, but he brings much more to the table than just his talents on the court. Barry currently holds a 4.0 GPA and has one of the greatest bloodlines in basketball.
His father, Rick Barry, led the Golden State Warriors to the 1975 NBA Championship and was named MVP of the 1975 season. He has since been named one of the 50 greatest players of all time by the NBA. His mother, Lynn Barry, was inducted into the William & Mary Athletic Hall of Fame, where she was a star in both basketball and track. Canyon also has four half-brothers who played D1 and professional basketball.
“I feel like I’ve grown up in one of the greatest basketball families of all time, and just to be able to have that wealth of knowledge available to me has just been phenomenal for my development as a player,” said Barry.
Surprisingly, Barry’s mom, not his dad, was his first real basketball coach. He said he would do drills with her in the driveway when he was younger. Once he became more skilled, his dad decided it was time to take over.
The most notable thing his dad passed on to him – the underhanded free-throw. In his playing career, Rick Barry had one of the most unusual free-throw techniques of all time. While it was unorthodox, it worked. Rick was one of the most accurate free-throw shooters in NBA history, making 90 percent of his attempts.
Canyon said he began shooting the underhand free-throw in his junior year of high school, and he’s been doing it ever since. “I’ve gotten heckled before. I think the funniest one was in high school. I missed a free throw and they started chanting ‘you’re adopted!’, but that was actually pretty funny. I had to give them some credit for that,” he said.
He inched closer to his dad’s all-time average last season, as shot 84.5 percent from the foul line. “Really with the underhand free-throw, the main thing is getting the feel,” said Barry. “Just this past year I think the muscle memory kind of clicked where I just now feel like it’s automatic, and I shot a good percentage last year from the line, so I’m looking to keep that rolling this year.”
The Gators ranked 12th in the SEC in free-throw percentage a year ago, with a 64.3 percent average. That is something Barry is looking to help improve this season, and head coach Mike White believes he is the best free-throw shooter on the team right now.
Aside from the free-throw shooting, Barry brings a very diverse skillset to Florida. “He brings a lot of shooting,” said redshirt junior John Egbunu. “He’s a really good shooter from the 3-point line. He’s an aggressive player. He can drive the ball to the rim. He brings a lot to this team, and we’re really happy to have him.”
“I think I’ve always stressed trying to be a multi-dimensional player, so not just stuck on the three-point line catching and shooting, but being able to attack, finish at the rim as well as having a mid-range game,” Barry said. “I think that’s kind of a lost art in today’s game.”
Barry is a multi-dimensional person, as well as a multi-dimensional basketball player. He is looking to graduate with a Master’s Degree in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Florida. Not the typical study of choice for a college athlete. With his work load, he has to stay disciplined at all times.
“It is hard,” said Barry. “I think time management is key. I did physics as an undergrad, so I’ve always had to kind of balance the academics and athletics.”
Barry has had an interest in physics and nuclear engineering for a long time, but he wants to play basketball for as long as possible. Once his playing days are over, he plans to come back to finish his Master’s and get a job with the nuclear power plant or with radiation detection.
With everything Barry brings to the table, White is excited to have his leadership on a team whose leadership was questioned last season. “Canyon is as vocal as we have,” he said. “He’ll probably become a little more vocal here a couple months from now as he’s more familiar with what he’s dealing with and what we’re trying to teach, what we’re trying to carry over. As he gains confidence, probably throughout the season.”
His teammates have been helping him gain that confidence since the moment he arrived on campus. Whether it’s helping him transition into Florida’s style of play or just building friendships away from the court.
“Everyone’s been so welcoming, which has been a blessing to me. As a fifth year, you’re kind of in an awkward position, because you come in and guys have known each other for two, three, four years. And you’re not quite a freshman, because I played four years of college basketball, but at the same time you don’t know anyone,” said Barry. “That transition they’ve really helped make a smooth one for me.”
What White and the rest of the Florida staff really like about Barry is his will to win. Charleston came close to making the NCAA Tournament in the time he was there, but never could quite get there. Barry’s main goal for this season is to help the team make a run in the NCAA Tournament, which Florida has been in a drought of since 2014. Whatever Barry’s role may be this year, he is a natural-born winner and he is willing to do anything the coaches ask of him this season.