TIM PEELER: Even Legends Need Time to Produce

BY TIM PEELER

RALEIGH – At the time, he was the most celebrated player in the history of North Carolina high school football, a coveted hometown player who had interest from the state’s two biggest schools and a bevy of out-of-state football powers who thought he could help them win a national championship.

Yet, Anthony Barbour was almost too shy for all the attention.

So, on Jan. 26, 1988, when he stood up in front of a roomful of reporters, fans and co-workers at the Toot-N-Tell Restaurant in his hometown of Garner, N.C., a place where he had worked for years busing tables and washing dishes, Barbour didn’t make a big fuss about his choice of colleges.

“I’ve decided to follow my heart and play for NC State,” he said in almost a whisper. “Thank you for coming.”

With that, he sat down, seemingly done talking for the day. He was quickly rushed back up to the make-shift podium to answer a few questions, but Barbour was never one who craved individual spotlight. And that’s one of the many reasons he choice to play for the Wolfpack, coached at the time by Dick Sheridan.

“I sensed early on that Anthony was not one of those people who demand a lot of attention,” said Joe Pate, who as the Sheridan assistant responsible for recruiting Barbour. “I think that helped us in recruiting. We didn’t hound him. We stayed in contact, but we tried to avoid pressuring him to sign with us.”

That kind of tactic may not work any more into today’s climate of scheduled weekly phone calls and daily text messages from coaches and unlimited phone calls from recruiting services.

Especially with a player of Barbour’s talent and accomplishments.

As a senior at Garner High School in 1987, Barbour was practically unstoppable. He was the featured back in Garner’s toss-sweep offense, becoming the first back in North Carolina high school football history to gain more than 3,000 yards in one season and setting a national high school record with 47 touchdowns. Amazingly, he wracked up 1,288 yards on touchdown runs alone that year, an average of 27.8 yards per scoring run. The Trojans, coached by Hal Stewart, were a perfect 14-0 and won the state 4-A title.

So every major college in the country wanted him, though it came down to NC State, a program that was still under construction by Sheridan, and Florida State, which had already established itself as a perennial national contender under Bobby Bowden. Barbour eventually chose to stay close to home, enrolling in the school where his father had worked as a custodian for more than two decades.

Barbour was part of the Wolfpack’s most royal recruiting class, if only because it included All-ACC pick Ricky Logo, who was heir to the throne of America Samoa before giving up that title when his family moved away from the Pacific Ocean island to follow his father’s military career. It also included cornerback Sebastian Savage, who became a second-team All-America in 1992 and was a two-time All-ACC selection, and first-team All-ACC offensive lineman Mike Gee.

Yet for all the hype, Barbour had a frustrating, injury-prone career. Like Ted Brown in the late 1970s, Barbour was tough but undersized. He was listed at 5-10, 170 pounds, measurements that were likely beefed up by a couple of inches and a half-dozen pounds.

His freshman season ended after just four games with a knee injury. He had to sit out the 1990 season with a torn hamstring. He suffered ankle and shoulder problems as well during his career. But in 1992, as a fifth-year senior, Barbour was patched together and ready for one last chance to do something special.

He became the work-horse of Sheridan’s option-oriented offense, playing in the backfield with tough-nosed quarterback Terry Jordan, who was also part of the 1988 signing class. Barbour earned first-team All-ACC honors after averaging 6.1 yards per carry and rushing for 1,204 yards in the Wolfpack’s 9-3 season, which turned out to be Sheridan’s last at NC State. It still ranks as the third best single-season total in school history, behind Brown’s 1,350 in 1978 and 1,251 in 1977.

Barbour was a hometown hero who chose to stay close to his roots, a necessity for the success of North Carolina’s Division I-A programs. Like Brown in the late 1970s, Barbour came to NC State to prove that diminutive players can still be productive. His slew of injuries nearly negated that point, until his break-out senior class. By the time his career ended, Barbour was a testament that some top-of-the-line recruits may take several years before they fulfill their potential.

After his playing career ended, Barbour went on to become one of the state’s top young high school coaches. He was an assistant under Stewart at Garner before taking the head coaching position at Durham’s Southern High School. He took over a program that won only one game in 1998 and won back-to-back conference championships in 2000 and ’01, compiling a 23-5 record in those two seasons. He was briefly the head coach at Middle Creek High in Apex and just completed his second season at Smithfield-Selma High School.

You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.

1988 NC State Signing Class
Player	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Hometown
Neal Auer	OLB	6-5	210	Asheville, NC
Brent Bagwell	TE	6-3	235	Kings Mountain, NC
Anthony Barbour	TB	5-10	170	Garner, NC
James Bullock	DL	6-3	260	Massillon, Ohio
Chris Davis	P-K	6-0	180	Birmingham, Ala.
Mike Gee	OL	6-5	260	Burlington, NC
Therome George	QB/DB	5-11	184	Shelby, NC
Richard Glover	DB	5-11	164	Orlando, Fla.
Billy Ray Haynes	LB	6-0	226	Forest City, NC
Tony Horton	LB	6-4	230	Mathews, NC
Marc Hubble	OL	6-4	270	Birmingham, Ala.
Terry Jordan	QB	6-0	190	Tampa, Fla.
Reggie Lawrence	WR	6-0	173	Camden, N.J.
Ricky Logo	DL	6-0	280	Fort Benning, Ga.
Greg Manior	FB	6-1	210	Rineon, Ga.
Andreas O’Neal	LB	6-4	245	Bellhaven, NC
Sebastian Savage	DB	6-1	175	Carlisle, SC
Ricky Turner	RB-DB	6-0	180	Burlington, NC
Chris Wrenn	OL	6-4	255	Fuquay-Varina, NC

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