Charles Barton is looking for a new basketball home.
The UNBC Northern Timberwolves would love to have him under their roof.
Barton, a 21-year-old guard/forward from Vernon, was on the Northern Sport Centre court for a weekend identification camp. For the first two years of his post-secondary career, he played at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport level for the Kamloops-based Thompson Rivers University WolfPack. Then, he decided to work for a year to pay down some student loans. During his time away from school and basketball, he realized he was missing the game terribly.
So, now, Barton is considering UNBC as an option next school year and season. He's also interested in the academic and athletic programs at Nanaimo's Vancouver Island University and Calgary's Mount Royal University.
But, UNBC sure looked good to him.
"It's awesome," said Barton, who first heard about the benefits of the school and basketball program from Timberwolves guard and close friend Joel Rybachuk. "I'm surprised, actually. Joel is a pretty modest guy and doesn't talk too much about the school and everything but it's a really nice place. I just went on the tour [Saturday] morning and the whole school is just awesome -- the structural aspect of it too.
"The guys on the team are awesome too," added the six-foot-three Barton. "I've gelled with them already. That's always a nice feeling as well."
Playing alongside Rybachuk at Clarence Fulton secondary during his high school days, Barton was a scoring machine. His offensive abilities landed him in the CIS with the WolfPack, who used him more as a defensive specialist for those two seasons. As a starter, Barton averaged between 20 and 25 minutes of floor time per game.
Barton would be a perfect acquisition for the Timberwolves, and not just because of his size and overall abilities. Because he also has CIS experience, he would be able to make a smooth transition back to that level if UNBC's latest application to the Canada West Universities Athletic Association is successful. A decision on that application is expected in early May.
"He's extremely athletic and he's got some experience playing at the high level," said UNBC head coach Todd Jordan. "He's a good guy -- I think he'd get along with the guys really well and he'd give us some size at the guard spot. He can play the two or three [spots]. He's a pretty skilled guy too. He's a pretty special player."
Some elite-calibre local Grade 12s -- players like Rajen Bhullar, Sam Goodrich, Jai Kaushal, Ethan Bhangu, Josh Raphael and Andrew Whittaker -- also attended the weekend camp.
"There are about three or four of the local guys that all have a shot but we've only got three or four spots next year so it's going to be very difficult to make the team," Jordan said. "But you always want to try to keep the local guys involved and around the program as much as you can so I would envision seeing a couple of the local high school kids being involved with us either on our roster or as a red-shirt next year. Those are things that will kind of be determined over the next few weeks. For some of those guys, it might be over the course of the summer -- what I see from them over the summer and at tryouts in September."
