Stefon Barfield Looks to Lead UT Basketball to Bright Future

Anthony Hardaway, Dwayne Wade and Michael Jordan all have something in common and that is the fact that they are great leaders. Leadership is defined as "The action of leading a group of people or an organization." There have been many great leaders throughout history whether it is on or off the basketball court and sophomore forward Stefon Barfield wants to be included with those great leaders.

After falling in love with the campus and getting along well with the coaching staff, Barfield decided to play basketball at the University of Tampa. It has been a great match so far and he can only continue to grow, but it has also been a humbling experience.

Despite only being a sophomore, Barfield has already had some ups and downs within the basketball program and has had to deal with adversity. Throughout AAU basketball in high school, Barfield started and played almost every game.

Beginning of his freshman year, he not only had to deal with adjusting to the college game, but he also had a minor setback as he tore his meniscus. Despite the injury, it only made him work harder and motivated him more to be like Wade and Jordan.

Even though the season has been difficult so far, Barfield motivation and the team chemistry is still strong. "We are still a family. We are working hard every day trying to get better and I know that it's going to translate into the game soon. We can only go up from here," said Barfield of the season so far.

Despite being one of the younger members of the team, Barfield knows that he can lead them in the years to come and restore the winning tradition that the men's basketball program has had in the past.

Through nineteen games this season, Barfield has led the team in scoring four times which is second on the team in that category. Despite that and the fact that he was named to the conference's all-freshman team a year ago, Barfield knows that he needs to step up his game in order to carry the team on his back.

Being young isn't going to stop Barfield as he is putting in the extra time after practice in order to achieve his goals. Luckily for him and the Spartans, there is still two more years for him to grow and become the leader he wants to. Only time will tell but he is certainly on his way.

Written by Jeffrey Draluck