Jordan Barham on Grit, Brotherhood, and a Global Basketball Journey

Biggest one that stands out probably to be senior night, right? Probably senior night. We played, you know, Hawken at home. They'd beaten us earlier in the year. Kind of a I wouldn't I'd never want to blame the referees, but there were some questionable calls down the end that didn't go our way. But, you know, Hawken senior year, I was, you know, I have a lot of friends that went to Hawken. I was actually dating a girl. I was dating a girl from Hawken at the time. So to be able to beat them my last game at home, you know, my entire family, all my best friends in the stands. I think I'm pretty sure I like ended the game like a steal and like a windmill or something like my last points at home were like a pretty cool dunk. So, yeah, that's that's obviously a really, really cool, cool memory. I think going back, maybe even sophomore year, we played Kenston like in the regional final and we're down a lot going to the fourth. And I kind of made a couple of key plays down in the fourth quarter of that game to take us into the district finals. That was also like a really good memory because, you know, I was the younger guy in that team trying to find my place like the whole year. And it was kind of like I kind of hit my stride during the playoffs that year. So that was also like a really, really cool thing. Yeah, nice. And who were some of the coaches or teammates at U.S. that you still remember? Like I know you played for Coach Terry Lipford. So we played for an eighth grade. But was there anyone else who really influenced you? Coach Stevens. I mean, I think he was before you guys. He was our football coach. He was, you know, obviously a really great, great mentor to me. Coach Zappas with football and basketball. Coach Oslin, who was my coach my first two and a half years at U.S. was also like a really, really great influence and mentor me. And then obviously, like you guys said, Coach Lipford. And, you know, we're. We're still close to this day. I saw him, you know, at the Shorby Club not that too long before I came back here. So we've stayed in touch. We stay really close. He obviously was a great resource and a mentor throughout my time at U.S. in the classroom on the court, helping me, you know, with recruiting letters and things like that. So obviously was a great mentor to me and, you know, still a very, very close friend to me to now. You know, now that you're kind of an alum, what does being a U.S. guy really mean to you? Do you? Do you kind of carry the pride or some of those lessons from U.S. even with you today? Yeah. I mean, I carry I carry U.S. like very close to my heart, pretty much in everything I do. And like I said, it's going there was one of the greatest decisions I've made. And I, you know, I cherish everything I learned there and all the all the things I went through, whether the good or bad, because they kind of helped mold me into the guy I am today and the person I am today. So, like I said. You know, whether I'm, you know, in the States, abroad, wherever I am, I, you know, try to represent U.S. and carry that with with pride because it is a very, very, very special place. And I say, you know, to any young guys, you know, throughout Cleveland, if you have the opportunity to go there, I would never turn it down because, you know, I'm I'm really lucky to have had that opportunity and grateful to, you know, still have the connections and, you know, kind of just the web and networking that I still have. So it is a, you know, a great, great place. And let's shift from high school to college and kind of that process of your recruitment. You chose Davidson College. What made you choose Davidson out of all the other options? It was just the familiarity of it. Like I said, I'd always kind of gone up going to smaller schools. You know, I went to Jason and then obviously U.S. is a smaller school. So I kind of attacked the recruiting process that way. I didn't want to really go to like a big, big school. You know, Davidson's. It's one of the smallest T1 schools in the country. And it's got, you know, a very, very, very strong academic reputation, along with, you know, the years and decades of success they've had on the basketball court. So it's kind of just one of those things where it lined up, you know, academically and athletically for me. And, you know, being in North Carolina on Lake Norman, just it's a beautiful area. So, you know, once I. I mean, obviously, I narrowed down my list. So schools, it was down to like Davidson, Penn State, Vanderbilt, Harvard, Princeton. I kind of once I narrowed it down and gone on my visits, I kind of just knew that Davidson was the place for me. You know, what was kind of that big adjustment like from going from high school to D1 college basketball? Was the competition or speed of the game really a big shock for you initially? Or did you see that transition as kind of easy? Oh, no. For me, it was an absolute shock. An absolute. Shock. You know, I start. So I started college at 17. Like I graduated high school at 17. And so, like, you know, physically, I think I was I was ready. Like it wasn't like the physicality of the game wasn't something that really, really like threw me off guard. But just the pace and the speed and just like just like the little details and everything that comes with playing, you know, major division one college basketball. It was definitely a shock, you know, because I came from U.S. to where I was. I was pretty much the best player on every court I stepped on to then going to Davidson, where I was a freshman on a team that had won 30 games and went to the NCAA tournament the year before. So, yeah, it was obviously a huge learning curve and a huge, a huge shock for me. But, you know, I learned a lot that freshman year and was able, you know, to use that to kind of have a really, really good sophomore year. So, yeah, it was definitely like an adjustment. I think, you know, all guys. We'll kind of struggle with that at first, but the ones that kind of can learn it sooner, sooner rather than later end up, you know, transitioning pretty well. You know, obviously playing college basketball, especially at such a good school like Davidson at the time, you had to have gone against some pretty cool or pretty kind of notable players, especially during some of the prime years of Davidson's kind of athletic athletics in general. Who are some of those players that you remember going against in college that really were just. I mean, yeah, we played against, we played against a lot of really, really good guys. Because at the time we were in the SOCON, so we kind of had to make our non-conference pretty hard my first two years. And then we transitioned into the eights in my second year. So non-conference kind of slowed down. But, I mean, in those years we played against, I mean, some notable names that come to mind. We played against like Jabari Parker. We played against Andrew Wiggins. We played against Ty Jerome. We played against DeAndre Hunter, KJ McDaniel, Damian Lee. I mean, we played against so many NBA players when I was at Davidson. You know, Duke with Seth Curry was there. The Plumlee brothers, you know, you name it. Like, we played against Duke, UVA, a UNC team that won a national championship. We took them to double overtime. So it was like, you know, throughout those times we played against some really, really good guys. And then even going into the 8-10, we played, you know, the VCUs and Datons of the world. And St. Louis, George Mason, Rhode Island. So, you know, a handful of guys that are still playing and making a lot of money playing. But in terms of personal matchups for me, I'd say Jabari Parker was probably the best player I've ever had to guard. When he was at Duke, he was unbelievable. Like, I'd never seen a talent like him. And obviously his career got kind of derailed with injuries. But, you know, he's still playing well now in Europe. But at the time, he had to bend by far. The best player I'd ever guarded. You know, one of the other really cool things is you got to compete in the Slam Dunk Contest, the college Slam Dunk Contest in your senior year. Had that opportunity come up, obviously you kind of were that high flyer at U.S. But what was that like in college? And what was it like to be a part of that event? Oh, it was amazing. You know, a great opportunity. Absolutely a great opportunity. Kind of one of my assistant coaches at the time kind of had some connections, you know, with the Reese's All-Star Game and the Slam Dunk. And three-point contests. So once senior year had ended, he kind of reached out to me and was like, hey, this might be a possibility. Like, if it's just something you're interested in, let me know. And I said, like, yeah, of course it'd be something I'm interested in. And, you know, I kind of got a reputation for doing some pretty cool stuff in warm-ups and throughout the games and stuff. So I remember I was home for Easter, I want to say. Yeah, I think I was actually in Cleveland for Easter. I mean, obviously I was done with basketball at the time and was getting ready to, you know, sign an agent and transition into pro. And the guy had contacted me and reached out to me from the NCAA and said that they had chose me to be in it. So I had to fly down to Charlotte, get my stuff from Davidson, and fly straight to Houston. And it was a really cool, really, really fun opportunity. You know, we all stayed in the same hotel. All the guys competing in the dunk contest, the three-point contest, the All-Star Game. And, you know, still got some friends. So this day that I made during that, but just a really, really cool opportunity and some, you know, really cool memories from that. And, you know, I was grateful to still be chosen for it. Do you remember what your coolest dunk from that competition was? Oh, I actually didn't even make it out of the first round, shockingly. I kind of did the wrong dunk to start. I wish I would have picked a different dunk that I knew would have put me through the first round. But I think I threw it off the backboard, and I intended to do. Like a windmill, but the ball kind of came off a little high. Instead of just catching, I still dunked it through. And I think I was like, I think I was like two points away from making it to the second round. But yeah, one of my bigger regrets in life is kind of doing, not doing the one dunk I wanted to do to start. But, you know, still a really, a really cool opportunity. And, you know, something that I was very, very happy to be a part of. So, but after graduating from Davidson, you, signed a contract to play overseas. So what was that process like after Davidson kind of transitioning into pro basketball?