Where Will Billy Baron Go?
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
When the University of Rhode Island fired men's basketball coach Jim Baron in March, most people believed that his son Billy Baron would ultimately transfer from the program to play at another school. However, at the time, Billy Baron said that he wanted to remain at URI to play for new men's basketball coach Dan Hurley. Apparently, he has had a change of heart.
Tuesday, the University issued a release saying that Baron was leaving the program. Here is the statement in its entirety:
KINGSTON, R.I. -- Rising junior guard Billy Baron has decided to leave the Rhode Island men's basketball program.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST"We wish Billy the best as he continues his college basketball career," head coach Dan Hurley said. "We think the world of him as a player and a person."
Baron played in 20 games last season, averaging 13.0 points and 4.4 rebounds per contest. The 6-2 native of E. Greenwich, R.I. transferred to URI in 2010 after spending part of his freshman season at Virginia.
Early speculation is that Baron may head to Buffalo to play for his father at Caisius in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. His father would certainly like to have a player of his caliber to start of his tenure there. But Baron has many options.
Originally recruited to play at the University of Virginia, Baron has the talent to play in a major conference like the ACC. As a freshman, he did play a fair amount of minutes in the first few weeks of the season before spending more time on the bench for the Cavs which ultimately led to his decision to transfer to URI.
A source tells GoLocalProv.com that Providence College from the Big East and Purdue from the Big Ten may be two schools looking to land Baron.
PC's potential involvement seems interesting in that Ed Cooley's programs seems flushed with talented guards. The Friars, meanwhile, are still desperate for a quality big man that can help the program immediately. However, Baron grew up in Rhode Island so the familiarity with Providence College and the fact that there remains some uncertainy with Ricky Ledo's eligibility could bring the Friars into play.
Matt Painter and the Purdue Boilermakers are coming off of an NCAA Tournament season which saw them fall 63-60 to Kansas in the round of 32. But they did lose 3 of their top 4 leading scorers to graduation in forward Robbie Hummel, guard Lewis Jackson and guard Ryne Smith.
Another option for Baron to consider might be another great academic school like Virginia which he could find in the Ivy League. Like his brother Jimmy, Billy is not considered NBA material but he could possibly have a lengthy and successful career playing over seas. Because Baron is an excellent student, he may consider getting a great education and having that degree to fall back on once his playing days are over with.
If he were to consider the Ivy League, you would have to think that all 8 schools in the league would be interested with local entry Brown leading the list.
However, before Baron picks a school, he may want to wait for the NCAA to make its decision on his eligibility. Having already lost a year of eligibility when he transferred from Virginia to URI, Baron is seeking a special waiver which would allow him to play right away this fall. It is likely that his appeal will be granted as he did transfer to URI to play for his father who has since been fired by the school. There is precedent for such a waiver being granted as Pitt's Trevor Zeigler joined the Panthers immediately following the firing of his father Ernie whom he played for at Central Michigan.