Barry Barnes has been the head coach of the Long Beach City College men’s basketball team for 16 years, and this year’s Vikings squad looks like a classic Barnes team. They’ve got good guards, and a ton of local talent.
“We always keep that connection, we take a lot of pride in recruiting the local Long Beach, Lakewood, Moore League guys,” said Barnes. The Vikings feature six local players from Lakewood High, Jordan, St. Anthony, Millikan, and Wilson and will look to improve on an 11-17 performance last year that saw them finish 4-6 in conference.
“The team is looking good,” said Barnes of his Vikings, who are off to a 1-2 start. “We have a lot of new guys. We’re looking to improve on last year with a couple of really good shooters. Just trying to put it together.”
The Vikings will be led by Cypress product Kason White, a 6-5 wing who was an all-conference player last year. Fresno native Major Hurley will bring length at the wing position, and Orangewood Academy alum Lawrence Brown is a playmaking point guard. James Barker (Corona del Mar) is another wing, while South Gate product David Garcia is another ball-handling guard in the starting lineup.
The Vikings will look to utilize their backcourt strength and depth offensively and defensively.
“We’re going to get up and down the floor and we’re going to press a lot more than I have in the past,” said Barnes. “Let the guys get out and run. We’ve got really good guards as we always do, we’re just trying to get them to compete on a higher level to move on.”
Much of the depth will be provided by the local boys. Jordan CIF-SS champion Kane Young Lakewood’s Mason Pacheco Robinson will both get big minutes this year, with Pacheco Robinson coming off the bench but currently No. 4 on the team in minutes played. Barnes isn’t afraid to rely on that depth, as evidence by Pacheco Robinson leading the team in scoring through three games.
In addition to his 16 years as head coach, Barnes was also an assistant under LBCC legend Gary Anderson for six seasons, and was also a Vikings player for two seasons. Few people have spent more time in LBCC”s Hall of Champions than Barnes, who has seen any number of total upheavals of the basketball status quo, including the most recent changes at the NCAA level with NIL and constant churn in the transfer portal.
“I love the game,” said Barnes. “I love coaching, I love recruiting, I love going to games. As far as kids getting scholarships, the portal has really changed that a lot. It’s really hard to get out to that D1 level because of the portal, so we have more kids going D2 and NAIA. It’s challenging, you have to love coaching, you have to really love the game to stay in it.”
The Vikings will be at home Monday Nov. 25 against Santiago Canyon and will host Cypress Nov. 27 at 5pm.
