On Friday night against Marist, Fairfield head coach Sydney Johnson and the Stags will honor lone senior Mo Barrow.
After winning Sixth Man of the Year last season, Barrow appears on track to contend for the award again this season. The senior is the only remaining holdover from the Ed Cooley era who will play in his final game under Johnson. His role has grown each season, from a role player to a reliable scorer off the bench to one of the top two options on the Stags this season.
“In many ways he’s been the heart and soul of the team,” Johnson said. “He’s embraced me, our system, he’s gotten better, he’s making three’s, he’s starting the offense, he’s defending multiple positions, he’s scoring.”
The senior is second on the team at 13.7 points per game and leads the team with 100 free throws made, however the Stags are mired in a season where they can at best earn the 10th seed for the MAAC tournament.
“I’ve been so happy to coach him,” Johnson said. “I will tell you that, yeah we might not have as many wins as we want and that he wants, but he controls his legacy. He’s been in the face of having disappointing results, he controlled the fact that he was the hardest working kid in our gym every single day.”
Barrow has been the lone senior on a team on one of the youngest teams in the country. Johnson said he credits Barrow’s leadership to helping him coach a group that includes a majority of freshmen and sophomores.
“We may have had more losses than we want, but that didn’t effect Mo and that to me elevates him in my mind,” Johnson said. “He’s been outstanding and he’s allowed me to coach my younger guys hard because there are no excuses, you guys have to be like Mo, but he’s been phenomenal. It’s going to be really hard to see him go.”
Ryan Restivo covers the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, the America East conference, and Hofstra for Big Apple Buckets. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @ryanarestivo or contact Ryan at rrestivo[at]nycbuckets.com.
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