How Does Barnes Rank Among the All-Time Greatest?

At IAHoops, we often wonder where Harrison Barnes ranks among the greatest players in the state of Iowa's history. So, we compiled a list of the greatest players who have played high school ball here in Iowa during the last twenty years and see how Barnes stacks up. The following list will count down the Top 20 players over the past twenty years. Please keep in mind that this list features only those who played high school ball in Iowa and the rankings are based upon the players HS career, but also some bonus points go to those who performed well at the college and professional levels.

Rank	Name	Height	Town/School	Awards/Honors	Accomplishments
#20.	Mike Davis	6-5	Waterloo/ East	Mr. Bball, All-State, Gatorade POY	Helped lead East to the title in 1990. Until Barnes came along he was the only non-senior to win the Gatorade POY award when he did so in 1998.
#19.	Brooks McKowen	6-2	Fairbank/ Wapsie Valley	Mr. Bball, All-State	Only player in Iowa HS history to score more than 1,000 pts in a season. Finished with 2,831 career pts which is the most in state history. Went on to have a solid career at UNI.
#18.	Justin Wessel	6-9	Cedar Rapids/ Prairie	Mr. Bball, Gatorade POY, All-State	Scored nearly 2,000 pts in HS and led his team to a title. He then went on to be part of a national championship team at the University of Arizona.
#17.	Ryan Bowen	6-9	Ft. Madison	All-State	Scored over 1,500 pts, grabbed more than 700 rebounds in HS. Was good at Iowa and been able to play in the NBA for 10+ years.
#16.	Matt Gatens	6-4	Iowa City/ City High	Mr. Bball, Gatorade POY, All-State	Scored nearly 2,000 pts and lead his team to a 4A title. Named to Big Ten All-Freshman team.
#15.	Adam Spanich	6-7	Cedar Rapids/ Regis	Mr. Bball, Gatorade POY, All-Sate	Prolific scorer who is among those in the "50-pt Club." Went on to star at USC.
#14.	Jason Bohannon	6-2	Marion/ Linn-Mar	Mr. Bball, Gatorade POY, All-State	He wins everywhere he goes. Scored nearly 1,700 pts & helped Linn-Mar to win two state titles. Has had a good career at Wisconsin.
#13.	Chris Street	6-8	Indianola	All-State, Gatorade POY	Was a big timeplayer in HS, but was doing even better at Iowa and likely onward to the NBA. His legacy lives on with the "Hustle Award" given a deserving player at Iowa.
#12.	Loren Meyer	6-10	Ruthven/ Ruthven-Ayrshire	All-State	He put up video game like stats in HS with nearly 2,000 pts, more than 1,000 rebounds and almost 400 blocks. He starred at Iowa St and played a handful of years in the NBA.
#11.	Ricky Davis	6-7	Davenport/ North	All-State	Blew up in final two seasons at North. Played in Magic Johnson Roundball Classic and then spent one season at Iowa before going to the NBA where he's had an up and down career.
#10.	Greg Brunner	6-7	Charles City	All-State	Selected for Jordan Brand All-Star game before going on to have a terrific career at Iowa.
#9.	Glen Worley	6-7	Iowa City/ West	Mr. Bball, Gatorade POY, All-State	Was one of the top players in the country after leading his team to a title as a frosh. Never lived up to the hype, but had a solid collegiate career at Iowa.
#8.	Jeff Horner	6-3	Mason City	Mr. Bball, All-State	Committed to Iowa as a frosh and then had fantastic HS career. Turned out to be one of the top players to put on an Iowa jersey.
#7.	Dean Oliver	5-11	Mason City	Mr. Bball, Gatorade POY, All-State	Stellar HS player who helped team win a couple titles and then went on to be a four year starter at Iowa. One of the all-time Hawkeye greats.
#6.	Fred Hoiberg	6-4	Ames	Mr. Bball, Gatorade POY, All-State	The Mayor exploded his junior and senior seasons at Ames and then stayed at home to star at Iowa State. He went on to have a steady, but good, NBA career.
#5.	Harrison Barnes	6-6	Ames	Gatorade POY	One of only two juniors to win the Gatorade POY, helped his team win a state championship as a junior and is the highest rated prospect to ever come out of Iowa.
#4.	Kirk Hinrich	6-3	Sioux City/ West	Mr. Bball, All-State	Helped Sioux City West win a state title before being an All-American at Kansas and has a nice thing going with the NBA's Chicago Bulls. Was also a member of Team USA in 2006.
#3.	Jess Settles	6-8	Winfield/ Winfield/Mt. Union	Mr. Bball, Gatorade POY, All-State	Scored nearly 2,200 pts to go with over 1,000 rebounds in HS. Was Big Ten Freshman of the Year at Iowa and had a solid career despite chronic back problems. Had his career not been derailed by injuries how good would he have been?
#2.	Nick Collison	6-10	Iowa Falls	Mr. Bball, Gatorade POY, All-State	Helped lead his HS team to a 101-1 record and 4 straight state titles. Was a McDonald's All-American in HS. Then starred at Kansas where he was All-American and NABC National POY as a senior. He was a member of the 2003 Team USA World Championship team that won Gold. He is currently having a good career with the NBA's Oklahoma Thunder.
#1.	Raef LaFrentz	6-11	Monona/ MFL-Mar-Mac	Mr. Bball, Gatorade POY, All-State	Scored more than 2,100 pts and grabbed more than 1,000 rbs in HS. Was a Parade, McDonald's, and USA Today All-American. He starred at Kansas and was named First Team All-American as a junior and senior and was Big 12 POY his last two years as a Jayhawk. He was selected #3 in the 1998 NBA Draft and has had a pretty good professional career despite numerous injuries.

Right now, we have Barnes checking in at #5 on our list. Through his junior season, he has compiled nearly 1,000 points and over 400 rebounds. That might not sound impressive compared to others on the list, but he only played 3 quarters during most of his games this season as his team went 25-0 (margin of victory was about 30 ppg) and captured a state title. Just taking ball park figures it is our guess that Barnes will finish his career with about 1,600 points and nearly 700 rebounds… and a shot at a second straight state title.

However, there is some speculation that Barnes may attend a boarding/prep school next year in order to better challenge himself on the court while also preparing him for what it's like to live away from home and balance school with travelling across the country to compete. If goes this route it won't diminish the fact that he will go down as one of the all-time greats in Iowa HS hoops history.

In fact, if he goes onto experience similar levels of success in college as those on the list above him and eventually have a career in the NBA he could jump to the top spot. However, we will let the young man put in the work and see if he lives up to his and everyone else's expectations. This is often easier said than done, but Barnes seems like the type of kid who will exceed expectations and blaze his own trail.

So, support this young man no matter where he goes because this is a kid who will make all Iowans proud. Good luck HB… we'll be watching.