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Admittedly, she may not be the most athletic player on the Lady Colonels’ basketball team. She stands 5-feet 9-inches, and may not have the penetrating ability of some of her teammates, but whatever Claire Barry may lack in athleticism, she makes up for in smarts.
“I’m not as athletically skilled as some of these other players who have the natural talent,” says Barry of what she brings to the court for Nicholls. “So for myself, being able to think basketball and understand the strategies, it puts me one step ahead of my opponent, or whoever I’m guarding.”
Being able to understand the strategies of the hardwood is essential for Barry, who recently received a degree in education. Barry, a senior for the Lady Colonels, is in graduate school and plans to one day coach basketball at the college level.
Barry’s night classes allow her to focus on basketball during the day. “Because I only have night classes, I wake up in the morning and I come (to Stopher Gym),” she explains. “I hang around the coache’s office, and watch film with one of our assistant coaches, and come in the gym and get some shots up. Then I get back in there and hang out.
“So it’s real nice, because I get spend all day at basketball. Then my afterthought is kind of getting my grades,” Barry said while laughing.
Nicholls head coach Mark Cook agrees that Barry displays the traits of a player who will eventually become a coach. “Sometimes I tell her she over thinks plays,” Cook jokingly said. “She’s out there, she’s always thinking a play ahead, which is good as a coach.”
Cook said while on the sideline, he does the same thing—planning for in-game adjustments a possession or two ahead of time. “She’s hanging out with the assistants in the office,” said Cook. “They’re in there looking at video tape and things, and she gets to do that because she wants to be a coach down the road.”
However, Barry’s exploits are not limited to film study and opponent scouting.
She is also one of the most productive players for the Lady Colonels.
So far this season, she is second on the team in scoring with an average of 11.3 points per game—a four-point increase from last season’s 7.1 average. She is also second in assists (13) and steals (8).
Barry attributes the improvement to becoming a more rounded player. “Over the summer, I worked really hard on my penetrating game, which I can say I did not have at all last year,” said Barry. “So it did open up my shot a lot more, because I’m able to take people off the dribble, this year.”
She said her willingness to penetrate is a far cry from the player she was when she arrived at Nicholls. “When I got here, all I wanted to do was spot up, set and shoot,” she said. “That’s really all I had because the college game was so quick, compared to high school. So I really depended on my teammates to get me open, and after watching other players, I noticed how to get myself open. When I got here, I was kind of scared to have the ball too much, and now I want it.”
It is that kind of development that coaches look for in their players. The kind of development that makes a player a different performer from the freshman season to the senior season. “My game has changed a little bit,” said Barry, “and I wish I had one more year to develop it a little more.”
While Barry’s eligibility may prevent her from developing her game, her career and personality will help her in developing other player’s games.
The Lady Colonel that calls herself a “student of the game,” will make the full circle and become a teacher of the game.
Photo by Matt LeBlanc • Tri-Parish Times/ Through 10 games this season, senior Claire Barry is the Lady Colonels second leading scorer, averaging 11.9 points per game. Barry is currently in graduate school, and plans to coach college basketball in the future.
