She traveled across the world to play basketball for the University of Idaho and so far she’s made a significant impact. In her first year as a Vandal, freshman Stacey Barr is the second leading scorer on the roster this season.
Barr grew up in Melbourne, Australia, where she attended Maribyrnong High School. Barr said high school sports are quite different in Australia than America. She said they are more like intramurals and aren’t considered competitive. Barr said she played a number of sports, but her passion was with the sport she started playing when she was 4 years old — basketball.
In order to face serious competition Barr played club basketball for the Altona Gators, where she led the league with 29.2 points per game. She scored 20 points or more in 13 of 15 games, including scoring more than 30 points in five games. On June 4, she set a league record for points per game with 55 and received multiple MVP honors.
Barr said her coach sent out DVDs of players all around the world and one of hers wound up in the hands of Idaho coach Jon Newlee. He liked what he saw and recruited Barr. She said even though it is hard to leave home, let alone a home country, it has been a great experience so far.
“It’s been a lot easier than I thought,” Barr said. “… All the girls are great, so they’re really easy to make friends with. I haven’t really had any problems at all.”
For Barr, coming to America was a bold move. She said she hadn’t been much of a traveler, but said she definitely made the right choice coming to Idaho.
“I’ve never been out of Australia before,” Barr said. “So getting to travel with the team has been great.”
Barr has had success coming off Idaho’s bench and has seen considerable game time. Barr said she wasn’t expecting to play this much as a freshman.
“Coming across as a freshman I thought I’d just be training, practicing. I didn’t expect to get many minutes at all, but I’ve been fortunate enough to,” Barr said. “… It’s been fantastic.”
Barr has adjusted to Division I basketball quickly — which is usually a struggle for incoming freshman. Barr said the physical nature of her Australian league made the transition easier.
“Compared to our physicality back home, it’s around the same,” Barr said. “It’s a lot more quick here. We get up and down a lot more. It’s more structured.”
When Barr’s on the court, fans notice because she is snagging rebounds, getting steals or draining shots. Barr said it’s all about the manner in which one comes onto the court.
“I like to work hard and help my team as much as I can, so if that means diving for a ball or jumping after a ball, I just want to make the most of my time out there,” Barr said.
Get to know Stacey
Pregame ritual: Teammate Adrie Shiels does her hair
Favorite place to eat in Moscow: La Casa Lopez
Favorite book: Australian footballer Ben Cousins’ biography