Baron is Wide Open
Few players were better in the first half of the July live period than Billy Baron. He played to rave reviews at virtually every stop along the way, and as he thrived so did his Expressions Elite team, playing arguably their best basketball of the year in the last two weeks.
But despite all that, Baron worries that perhaps not all college coaches were paying too much attention because they assumed he would automatically follow in his brother’s footsteps to go on and play for his father, Jim Baron, who is the head coach at the University of Rhode Island.
“I just want coaches to know that I’m wide open,” Baron told the New England Recruiting Report. “I don’t want them to think of me as a coach’s son. I want them to think of me as a prospect.”
Thus far Billy has followed the same path as his older brother, Jimmy, who attended Bishop Hendricken High School before heading to Worcester Academy for a post-graduate year (which Billy will do next season).
Ultimately, Jimmy opted to attend URI and play for his father. In fact, he just completed a hugely successful four year career that saw him become the Atlantic 10’s all time leading three-point shooter.
“Because of how well it worked out for my brother, I think people just assume I’m automatically going to go too,” Billy said. “But I want to see how high I can go.”
Baron has already drawn some early interest from places like Davidson, George Tech, Stanford, and Notre Dame, which he refers to as his dream school.
And if Baron does end up earning the opportunity to play at the highest levels of college basketball, he insists no one will be happier for him than his father.
“My dad is going to be the first one to support me no matter what,” he said. “URI will be one of the final schools I pick from because of my dad. No one wants to see me succeed more than him, but he definitely supports me investigating all of my options.”
Recruiting interest from high major schools is not something that many anticipated for Baron earlier in his career. But he has demonstrated the same work ethic that helped his brother to exceed expectations, and has consequently seen his game progress with leaps and bounds in recent years.
“I learned my work ethic straight from my brother,” he says. “I’ve worked hard to diversify my game. I was more of a slasher but he [Jimmy] has shown me a lot of stuff and I’ve worked hard to incorporate the jump shot into my game.”
Baron is also learning to play as more of a point guard, after a career at Bishop Hendricken that required him to think of scoring first and foremost.
His versatility has shined through so far this July as he’s scored points going to the rim and shooting from the perimeter, created opportunities for his teammates, played on and off the ball, and, most impressively, shown the ability to make big plays down the stretch of tight games.
Nevertheless, Baron insists his best is yet to come.
“I’ve played pretty well…played with confidence,” he said. “But to be honest there hasn’t been a game yet where I thought I played my absolute best. I’m just waiting for a game to show I can be versatile and do whatever the coach needs me to do.”
Regardless of what may lie ahead for Billy Baron two things seem apparent: he will continue to work hard and bring his game to new levels; and his brother and father will both be there cheering him on…no matter what uniform he may be wearing.
Billy Baron