ALEXANDRIA, Va. — High school basketball players talk about “package deals” all the time, but they rarely come to fruition.
Yet if childhood buddies Troy Williams and Anthony “Cat” Barber of Hampton, Va., are to be believed, they could end up playing together at Louisville or Alabama.
“We talk about it all the time,” Barber said after Williams went off for 27 points and Barber had 7 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists as USA East routed China, 109-70, at the Nike Global Challenge .
“We talk if I don’t go to Kansas, if I go to Alabama, he gonna go there. If I go to Louisville, he gonna go there just because he like playing with me and I like playing with him, too. But we haven’t decided nothing yet.”
He added: “I mean basically for me, it depends on if I don’t go to Kansas. If I go to Kansas, there’s a possibility that it won’t happen. But if I don’t, then I think it’s like a high, high chance of me and Troy going to the same school.”
The 6-foot-2 point guard from Hampton (Va.) High is considering Louisville, Alabama and Kansas, and said he plans to decide this summer.
“I’m going to do it after Peach Jam or right before my high school season,” he said.
Rick Pitino of Louisville, Bill Self of Kansas and Anthony Grant were all on hand for the game.
The key issue for Barber is whether he pulls the trigger for Kansas.
“I like how they came after me,” he said of Kansas. “We built a relationship, Bill Self, [Joe] Dooley, we talk about the game, we talk about life, schools. I built a great relationship with them and we still the same way.”
“Kansas is up there,” he added. “That’s the hard choice for me right now. I’m just talking with my family and I’m going to take what’s right for me. But all three of them is equal.”
Kansas is not recruiting Williams, a 6-6 wing from Hampton who will play at Oak Hill Academy this year.
Williams initially was going to decide in May for Kentucky or North Carolina, but after huddling with his uncle, legendary AAU figure Boo Williams, he is now also considering Louisville, Alabama, Georgetown, South Carolina and Arkansas, as first reported by SNY.tv.
Most of those schools were repped here, including North Carolina’s Roy Williams and Kentucky’s John Calipari.
“I slowed everything down, everybody’s like equal now,” Williams said. “I put everybody in the same boat.”
Williams will visit Alabama next month to see his aunt, Terri Flournoy, the new women’s head coach at Auburn.
“We talked at the LeBron Camp about going to the same school because Louisville and Alabama are recruiting us,” Williams said. “Then again, I got more schools and he also has Kansas there. So we only talked about it, we’re not too sure.
Asked how likely it was, Williams said of the package deal: “I’d say it’s a good 50/50.”
If they do both land at the same spot, Barber said it will be a huge advantage for that school because of their bond on and of the court.
“That will never change whatever what level we get to,” Barber said.
“That would build the confidence up. You spend time with a person all your life you just know them like the back of your hand.”
