Arkansas freshman Barry Dunning garnered praise from his coaches, teammates and fans alike for his performances on the Razorback European tour over the summer. The momentum he left Europe with has made its way to Fayetteville.
Perhaps the biggest factor in Dunning’s rise has been his work ethic. He has been featured prominently on official Razorback social media pages and coaches or staffers social media pages for his work away from dedicated team time.
“Before I left for Dallas… Barry was shooting," Razorback Head Coach Eric Musselman said Monday. "Sunday I walked in to print my articles on MLB managers and leadership and trying to learn, and when I went to go print, I heard a ball bounce. It was Barry. I only use this example because he’s not going home. He’s not hanging out. He’s in the gym.”
This all comes after Dunning became the first college player Musselman has coached to give him a scouting report on an opponent.
Dunning hasn't just made an impression on his head coach, though. His teammates have started taking notice. Missouri transfer Trevon Brazile said that Dunning benefitted the most from the European tour.
"Barry Dunning does all the little things right," Brazile said. "While we were over there he was taking notes on the teams before we even played him. That’s just little things. Every team needs somebody like that — ready to step up, and that’s the guy that we have."
Wichita State transfer Ricky Council IV echoed those sentiments.
"During overseas, we were both in the room late at night watching film," Council said. "He was over there with his notepad taking notes. We were just up late, and we had a game the next day, watching film just trying to figure out what the next opponent had, what we did the game before. So I would definitely say Barry (benefitted the most)."
On the European tour, Dunning shot 65% from the field and averaged 7.5 points per contest. He showed off some of his athleticism on the tour, too, dunking on opposing players and leaping for some rebounds.
The official Razorback Twitter page recently made a post asking fans to guess who had the highest vertical on the team. A majority of fans were guessing Brazile, Council, Anthony Black, Jordan Walsh or others.
Over a week later, the account tweeted out the result: Dunning had the highest vertical on the team.
"I think Barry Dunning has the highest vertical on the team," Brazile said. "I thought I had the highest, but yeah. That kid can jump."
"Barry is a surprise," Council said. "He really doesn’t show athleticism that much. I mean, he’ll do a regular dunk, smack the backboard. That’s about it. But he was top two both times."
It’s not clear where Dunning’s spot is in the rotation with as early as it is. The team just started back to official full-length practices on Monday, after all, but Musselman made a point to say that the freshman from Mobile, Alabama, has worked harder than anyone.
“He’s grown as much as anybody in this program," Musselman said. "From a culture standpoint, he’s at the top of the list right now for coming in the morning … He doesn’t come in at 10 in the morning. He’s in here at 7. And so his will to do the right thing, his will and his focus to get better, probably can’t have any more focus and desire."
