Basketball won’t be the way of the future for West Hancock senior Rylan Barnes, but right now, it’s his focus. An activity he and his brother, Cayson – a 2021 West Hancock graduate – could do together – but has turned into so much more, Barnes has started racking up milestones on the hardwood.
“Ever since growing up, it’s just been something I love to do – play with my brother. That was the first team I was ever on, and just fun to play and be around your friends – the team aspect of it”, said Barnes.
For sports at small schools in Iowa to be successful, it’s all hands on deck. The fastest, strongest, tallest, most athletic kids can’t be a one-sporter. There just aren’t enough of them, and in athletes like Barnes, there aren’t many. With his attributes, Barnes could and would be successful at any sport he put time into.
“There are things you can take away from each (sport),” Barnes said. He added, “Each one helps you throughout the rest playing as many sports as I can – it’s just more fun.”
His hard work on the hardwood has recently started to pay off. On his senior night, January 31st, Barnes became West Hancock’s all-time leading rebounder, passing 2015 grad Trevor Nalan, who grabbed 615 during his career.
“Yeah, just a great thing; proud of my teammates and coaches for pushing me to be the player I am,” said Barnes.
Barnes is averaging almost 11 rebounds per game, which ranks him 31st among all basketball players in the state and 21 among all class 1A players. Barnes has an irritating presence in the lane; he is taller than most, stronger than most, jumps higher than most, and, more importantly, has a motor that keeps running.
“My size helps me, my athletism, but having good coaches that can help me advance my game so I can learn and grow as a basketball player.”
He doesn’t just rebound, though, as just four days after the rebounding record – Barnes became the 6th Eagle to reach 1000 career points, with a 29-point performance at Bishop Garrigan helping West Hancock beat the Golden Bears in double overtime, 87-84.
“(1000 points) is special”, noted Barnes. “I watched many of those guys growing up playing the gym and being able to be where they are at, getting (my) picture on the wall – it means a lot to me.”
Barnes is referring to a special tradition where all West Hancock 1000-point scorers have their picture with the record(s) they hold hanging on the wall near the gym in the high school.
The regular season ended on Monday for West Hancock, giving the Eagles multiple days to prepare for a postseason run. The Eagles open the postseason at home against 6-15 Central Springs. If they continue to win, West Hancock will get two home postseason games before a neutral site district final which will likely be against the fighting Preston Gillespie’s and Dunkerton.
“We’ve been playing well over the past few games, and if we can keep rolling and making our shots, coach (Jay) Hiscocks is going to have us prepared to go into the postseason well-armed and ready to go,” said Barnes.
The versatility helps West Hancock tick. The Eagles can be deadly from behind the arch making 141 three-point baskets in the regular season; that’s over seven per game. But if they miss, that’s when the grown men of Barnes and teammate Mitchell Smith are there to bruise their way to the basketball for a putback or kick-out attempt. Barnes is the best offensive rebounder in the TIC West and second to Newman’s Doug Taylor when you put the full TIC together.
Barnes agreed that’s what helps their team succeed: “Yeah, I think we have a lot of different players on the team which we can use in different ways, and I think everyone has an outside shot.”
Barnes has committed to his teammates that he will focus on basketball until it ends, but when it does, for maybe the first time – Barnes will be focused on just one thing, football. In December, Barnes signed his PWO to Iowa State University.
“I’m just taking it one thing at a time,” Barnes mentioned of training for ISU and finishing his high school career. “I’m trying to finish out basketball strong on that for my teammates and not get ahead of myself but going to have to get ready for next fall.”
Barnes didn’t have coaches reach out to him about basketball, though they most likely assumed it was Everest. Barnes joked that it would’ve been cool, “but football was (what I was) most interested in.”
