Versatile combo guard helped keep Tech in the national picture in early 1990s
As legendary coach Bobby Cremins looked to keep Georgia Tech basketball competitive on the national stage following the 1990 Final Four and Lethal Weapon 3, he recruited Jon Barry, son of the legendary basketball player Rick Barry, to help fill the scoring void left by the departures of Dennis Scott and Brian Oliver.
After playing a year at the University of the Pacific and a year at a junior college, Barry came to The Flats and helped keep the Yellow Jackets’ string of NCAA Tournament appearances alive. Tech went 17-13 in 1991-92 as Barry teamed with Final four holdovers Kenny Anderson and Malcolm Mackey to bounce DePaul from the NCAA Tournament before falling to No. 5 Ohio State. As a senior, he and Mackey welcomed newcomers Travis Best and James Forrest, and the Jackets won 23 games and advanced to the Sweet 16 after downing Houston and Southern California.
Barry made the All-ACC team as a senior and scored 1,080 points in his two seasons, shooting better than 37 percent from three-point range. His 207 assists in 1991-92 still ranks as the sixth-most all-time, and his 99 three-point field goals that year ranks fourth.
The Boston Celtics made Barry the 21st overall pick in the 1992 NBA Draft, and he went on to enjoy a 14-year career in the league before transitioning into a broadcasting career, in which he remains to this day.
