Could Butler Sophomore walk-on Alex Barlow make the same jump for Butler player Drew Streicher made, from walk-on to starter? Barlow averaged 20.0 MPG in Butler's three CBI contests this past March, taking all of Jackson Aldridge's minutes. Barlow averaged 3.0 RPG and 2.0 APG in those three contests, and has a chance to take some of Chrishawn Hopkins' minutes, in addition to possibly stealing some from the turnover-prone Aldridge. While he will not start this year, if he can be effective in minutes off the bench, he has a chance to overtake Aldridge as Butler's point guard of the future, especially if Butler's 2013 recruiting class does not include another point guard.
Where Barlow will win his minutes is on the defensive end, as he is quite pesky despite only being 5'11. He averaged 2.7 steals per game in the three CBI contests. While that is a small sample size, he seems to be someone who could continue to the Butler tradition of strong defensive point guards (Ronald Nored, Shawn Vanzant).
Realistically, Barlow could get maybe 5-10 minutes this year with Rotnei Clarke starting at point guard, and maybe 10-15 minutes as a junior is Aldridge is ineffective/or Chris Harrison-Docks cannot prove himself at the Division 1 level. If he has this progression, Barlow could be a starter by his senior year. While this is certainly far-fetched, it is interesting to think about what walk-ons can mean to a program, both on and off the court.
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