Long Beach City College men’s basketball head coach and director of basketball operations, Barry Barnes, is recruiting basketball talent every day in the community of Long Beach.
Barnes said he has a recruiting philosophy as the men’s basketball coach, looking for a player that is local in the city of Long Beach, and who is “a good student and has good grades.”
Barnes said a Long Beach City College player should be, ”home grown, a hard worker, dedicated to education and wants to represent the community with pride.”
In addition, Barnes said that he wants his players to earn scholarships to play at universities and further their education.
Interim athletic director Bill Husak said that LBCC sports do not have a recruiting timeline because LBCC is not a D1 school.
“We are a community college, so we have a lot of time for a player to commit to Long Beach City College,” Husak said.
The LBCC basketball program works to recruit players every year, with an ideal visualization of what players they’re interested in, aiming to build great relationships between the athletes and basketball coaches.
Barnes said one thing he tells a college recruit is that, “Education is the key to success as an individual. And hard work pays off with dedication.”
Barnes and his coaching staff have specific players they are looking for when they are recruiting.
They’re always looking for point guards who can be a coach on the floor and play both physical and hard.
In the other positions, they’re always looking for players who can spread the floor and play multiple positions on the floor.
Husak said that during any recruiting process, he believes and trusts in Barnes and his coaching staff to recruit the best player that is available, and get a player that fits what the Long Beach City College team desires in a player.
Barnes said that a challenge for his coaching staff during the pandemic is that they have to see and talk to the player through Zoom or via phone call.
When interacting with a player being heavily recruited, Barnes said that expectations are communicated, as well as how interested they are in a potential partnership.
Barnes said it gives them time to watch a lot of film of the players.
“As a coach, it’s really not easy recruiting through Zoom. It’s better recruiting and watching them play in person,” said Barnes.
Husak said that he is very optimistic about recruiting on Zoom. He hopes they can recruit like they used to, when the pandemic improves.