INDIANAPOLIS—Cam Fuller chatted with UIC's Kelsey Barlow, this week’s Horizon League Men's Basketball Player of the Week. The senior guard collected his first career double-double in a Dec. 14 win over Southeast Missouri, posting 21 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.
Meet Kelsey Barlow
Class: Senior
Height: 6’5”
Weight: 200
Position: Guard
Hometown: Indianapolis, Ind.
High School: Cathedral
Previous: Purdue
2013-14 Season (Senior)
- Honored as a preseason second team all-league selection.
- Leads the Flames in points (17.0), rebounds (5.3), assists (4.7), blocks (0.6), and steals (1.2) per game.
- Has posted double-figure scoring outputs in nine of the first ten games.
- Scored 38 points against Wagner on Nov. 27 and 31 points the following game vs. SMU on Dec. 4 to become the first UIC player since Feb. 1995 to score 30 points in back-to-back games.
2012-13 Season (Transferred to UIC)
- Transferred to UIC and sat out per NCAA transfer rules.
2009-12 Seasons (Purdue)
- Named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team during the 2009-10 season.
- Served as Purdue’s sixth man his sophomore season and averaged 5.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.
- Made 22 starts his junior season and scored a career-high 14 points vs. Northern Illinois on Nov. 11, 2011.
- For the season, averaged 8.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.
- As a Boilermaker, made the NCAA Tournament all three seasons, reaching the Sweet Sixteen twice.
After sitting out last season due to NCAA transfer rules, how exciting is it to get back on the court?
It’s real exciting, going a year without any games is difficult at times but it was a useful year so it’s good to be back. My first three years of college I was fighting for minutes all the time so I just felt like I could focus on my strengths more so than work on my weakness without having to depend on playing time so I just played it out, played through my mistakes and got better throughout.
You were honored as a preseason second team all-league pick before playing a single game in the Horizon League. Was the honor something you expected?
Actually, I didn’t really pay attention to it. I mean—I don’t really know how it happened, I averaged eight points my last year I played and I hadn’t played in a year so I don’t really know what went into that logic.
In UIC’s last outing vs. Southeast Missouri you posted your first career double-double—21 points, 12 rebounds. Talk about your production and the Flames 75-69 road win.
Well, I think I had a different approach. I actually had a lot of mistakes, I don’t know if anyone noticed that, but I just tried to attack as much as possible and set the pace. Most of my assists (eight assists in the game) and things like that came on the transition where I was just pushing and I hadn’t really pushed it up to this point in the season, so I don’t really know if the other team was expecting that.
You've scored double-figures in nine of the first ten games this season and lead the Flames in points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals per game. Can you think of a better individual way to start your one and only season in a UIC jersey?
If I was leading my team to a little bit more wins that would be better. But right now, I think it’s good. Some of my results out there could have been playing a little bit better—I haven’t been shooting as well as I liked and defensively I haven’t been stopping people as I’ve been known to do so I mean there’s always room for improvement but it’s a decent start, I guess.
UIC is off to a 4-6 start and has four remaining non-conference games before league play starts Jan. 2. What's it going to take for the Flames to have a successful conference season?
I think it’s just an overall effort of being locked in and focused on trying to get wins. I think we sometimes slip away from what the coaches tell us and stuff that developed some of our loses. But I think we’re all starting to trust each other and all on the same page so I think trust and cohesiveness will put us in a place to win the Horizon League.
How do you see your prior Big Ten and NCAA Tournament experience benefiting UIC as the season progresses?
I mean, I think it’s always good when there is a player that knows what winning is and what it takes—every team’s goal is the NCAA Tournament. Being on teams that have done that, I know what it takes as far as getting there, so I think experience always plays a positive role on every team.
Your father played college basketball at Notre Dame and was a first-round selection in the 1986 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers and played in Europe from 1986-2002. Growing up, did having a father who was a successful basketball player add pressure to your game?
Not at all, my dad doesn’t really intervene too much into my basketball like I’ve seen other parents. I think it was more set like, watching him play when I was a child, you know, it was kind of like the norm. If your father is a doctor, maybe you want be a doctor, so you expect to be a doctor. So I kind of expected, I guess, to play basketball at least up until college because I see my dad doing it so I just thought that’s how it goes so it wasn’t really pressure it just kind of happened.
After spending three years at Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind., what are some things you enjoy about Chicago, Ill. and the UIC campus?
I like those Divvy Bikes, those blue bikes around the city, it’s $8 and you can ride a bike around the city. I take my girlfriend when she’s not mad at me (laughs).
Off the court, what are some things you enjoy doing?
I just saw that Hunger Games, I’m really all about that right now, I might go see it again today. But I live with three guys on the team; we play a lot of FIFA, make Instagram videos, watch a lot of HBO.
This is your last season of eligibility, what are your plans for the future?
I don’t know. You can’t really focus too much on the future. I just think if I handle my business now and do the right things on and off the court, I think with anything and an experience like college basketball being in college, good things can only happen if you do it the right way.
