[BJWilliams]

Just thought Id jump in with a little something in the midst of all this Rivals.com talk.

I know that Coach has been hard at work on teh recruiting trail (which is yielding some pretty good fruit from what it appears) but I thought Id take a sec and bring up a kid that I got to watch in Tidewater. HIs name is Ryan Barbosa and he actually goes to the school I attended back in the late 90s, Stonebridge School in Chesapeake. He is an excellent outside shooter, can attack the basket, and is a lock down defender and one of the best in the conference. He was first team all metro conference last year and helped Stonebridge to a #4 ranking in VA for Division II private schools. He actually hit 11 3 pointers in a game and scored I believe 45 total when all was said and done.

That's all I got for ya right now but I will be making visits throughout the season and will let you know what I can about him

[BJWilliams]

Ok so I was talking to one of his teammates from last year who is now graduated and it turns out he is now a junior so he could be somebody we look at for the class of 2008 (and if he scores in bunches like he did last year we might be able to pick him up since kids like him don't get much looks from the big name schools)

[BJWilliams]

Hey guys, Im goin home for Thanksgiving so while Im at home I'll get some information on him from the coach. He's a friend of mine from when I went there back in the late 90s (Graduated in 2001)

[Sly Fox]

Updates are always appreciated.

[BJWilliams]

Ryan gets off to a rousing start as Stonebridge beats Peninsula Catholic 72-57 in the Walsingham Academy Tipoff Classic. He hits 6 3 pointers and finishes with 40 points. The Cavaliers were in action earlier today against the host Trojans of Walsingham Academy (i'll update with the results of that game tomorrow). Stonebridge will be in an important early season tournament hosted by Atlantic Shores Christian School featuring 2 schools ranked in teh top 25 nationally among private schools. Stonebridge actually opens against one of those schools, the Red Devils from the Miller School out of the Charlottesville area on November 30.

[01LUGrad]

I actually coached this kid in track when he was in 7th and 8th grade. Great kid from a great family. I do hope he has more roundball skils than he did in regards to track speed and shot put strength! (Hey, a coach can only do so much with what he's got!)

[BJWilliams]

Well Stonebridge falls to Walsingham 73-60 in the championship round. Ryan hits 6 three pointers again and finishes with 24 points. He also makes the All-Tournament team along with one of his teammates. next up is the Atlantic Shores Tipoff Tournament where they open against the Miller School out of Charlottesville

[kel varson]

BJ,

Who else is looking at this kid. Can you post a photo.

[01LUGrad]

Like I said before, Ryan is a great kid, but please, don't get carried away here. BJ...Not to knock the Metro Conf, but...well, let's face it, I'm knocking the Metro Conf. He can shoot, but remember, he plays against very poor competition most of the time. How do I know? I happen to have attended one of the schools in the Metro Conference. Stick a serious defender on him, and his ppg will decrease rapidly. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't know if I would give him LB's number yet.

[jmdickens]

StoneBridge’s Barbosa finds his shot — a lot

If practice does indeed make perfect, there’s no secret to why StoneBridge sophomore Ryan Barbosa is hitting better than 90 percent of his free throws and torching opponents at a 24 points per game clip this season.

For the better part of the past three years, Barbosa has been taking 500 to 700 shots a day, every day, during the offseason and as many as four times a week during the Cavaliers’ campaign.

“I heard on TV where the NBA players say they shoot over 1,000 times a day in the offseason,” said Barbosa, who also works with shooting coach Gannon Baker. “I figured I’d try it, too. I want to take it to the next level.”

According to his father, Rick, the younger Barbosa, 17, transferred from Norfolk Collegiate to StoneBridge for both academic and athletic reasons. He averaged about five points per game on the Oaks’ talent-laden squad as a freshman.

“They just had so many other scorers there,” Ryan said. “I expected to be a little more productive here.”

http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.c ... &ran=17619



This is old, but something I found on the kid.

[BJWilliams]

Like I said before, Ryan is a great kid, but please, don't get carried away here. BJ...Not to knock the Metro Conf, but...well, let's face it, I'm knocking the Metro Conf. He can shoot, but remember, he plays against very poor competition most of the time. How do I know? I happen to have attended one of the schools in the Metro Conference. Stick a serious defender on him, and his ppg will decrease rapidly. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't know if I would give him LB's number yet.

Im not expecting him to be Larry blair...Im expecting him to be Ryan Barbosa. I don't know who else may be looking at him but I am gonna call Coach Cal tomorrow and get what information I can and then post it here (along with a picture)

[BJWilliams]

Ok foks Im slowly gathering information oh this guy. Here is what I have thus far


Name: Ryan Barbosa
Year: Junior ('08)
Height: 6-2
Position: Guard

Transferred in from Norfolk Collegiate, All State selection last year. Set school record with 11 three pointers in a game last year. Hoping to get information on interested schools and a picture first of next week

[BJWilliams]

Just thoughts Id give this a bump. Ryan picked up his 1000th point at Stonebridge a couple weeks ago and currently leads the Metro Conference with a 23.2 ppg average, and he led the Cavs with 21 as they lost to Atlantic Shores Saturday 71-67 (course Atlantic Shores beat stonebridge by an average of about 30 points last year) and hit 4 3 pointers. Hopefully I can get some more info from his coach before I head out of town with the family for Christmas.

[BJWilliams]

Quick update on Ryan from this past weekend. Stonebridge played in the 2006 Norfolk Christian Holiday Classic and won. Ryan scored 41 points in the title game and 91 points over the three games (wins over Lexington Christian from Massachusetts, Terra Ceia Christian from North Carolina and Grace Christian from Staunton and member of the VIC)

[LUconn]

Everytime I see this thread pop up I can hear Orlando Bloom yelling "Barbosa!"

[kel varson]

BJ,

So is ryan showing any interst in lu and is Dunton at all interested in him?

[BJWilliams]

Im not sure. I'm gonna swing by the school Monday and chat with Coach Cal about it. I haven't had much of a chance to chat with Coach Dunton since I left campus but hopefully I will talk to him after they get back from Asheville. I'll let you guys know Monday night what I find out

[kel varson]

Thanks, you're the best.

[jmdickens]

there really isn't anything posted about this kid.......He needs to hit the AAU circuit in the spring in summer.....but, maybe he could be a sleeper

[kel varson]

My old coach has seen him play and says he is on a low dI track. But the kid is young so we'll se what happens. The kid works his butt off.

[BJWilliams]

Im gonna probably talk to tim when I go by the school Monday. They lost to Miller School yesterday (one of the top schools in the state) Ryan had 18 including 3 threes. They are in Staunton playing Grace Christian out of Staunton for the second time in 8 days today.

[BJWilliams]

Ok quick update on Ryan: He continues to lead the Metro Conference in scoring at just over 23 points a game. After losing to Miller School, THey beat Grace Christian out of Staunton (for the second time), beat Alliance Christian, and lost to Atlantic Shores at the buzzer. The interesting thing that Ive noticed is that the boys are getting consistent scoring from other members of the team and on a couple occasions, somebody else has had a career game. I think teams are really game planning for him now which has forced him to not only get better but for his teammates to get better as well. I need to check on how they did against Broadwater last night and against Isle of Wight Academy. This Friday night is a big one because Portsmouth Christian comes a calling and the rivalry there is pretty fierce, maybe not LU-Radford fierce but still pretty strong

[mrich]

If we don't even know if this kid is interested, why are we talking about him?

[SuperJon]

Because BJ's a master recruiter.


And saying a rivalry isn't LU-Radford fierce isn't saying much.

[LUconn]

Yeah that's pretty much dead. Nice move guys in charge.