UCLA guard Janiah Barker, who transferred from Texas A&M after a heartbreaking NCAA tournament loss to Nebraska, helped the Bruins defeat the Cornhuskers in a dominant performance. Barker seems to be seeking revenge for the 2022 tournament loss, which saw her former team nearly pull off an upset before falling just short.
Janiah Barker told herself, “We can’t go out like this.” It was late in the third quarter of Texas A&M’s first-round matchup against Nebraska in the first NCAA tournament Barker, then a sophomore forward, had played in and her team had trailed by as many as 17 points. Barker grabbed the ball in the paint after Nebraska ’s Jaz Shelley lost her handle and immediately dished it to teammate Aicha Coulibaly, who was streaking down the court and scored.
coach Cori Close was at the Final Four with Aggies coach Joni Taylor, who mentioned she thought Barker might leave the program. Close didn’t think anything of it because she didn’t think there was a chance Barker would consider coming to Los Angeles. The Bruins already had depth, while Barker was a star for the Aggies and one of the focal points of their offense. But even though she had offers once she hit the transfer portal, Barker felt lost.
wasn’t going to be an easy thing,” she said this week. “There’s so many great players that were already on this team. … In a way, it feels like a fight for the spot. You have to be the best version of yourself every day. … It just forces me to be better, and that’s what I was looking for.” Close was shocked when Barker’s agent reached out to explain she wanted to come to
. Close mentioned that her style of coaching is a lot more structured than what Barker was used to. She pointed out that she has a community service requirement for all players. “I gave her every reason to be like, ‘Yeah, never mind,’” Close said. “But she didn’t.” Close recalls Barker telling her, “I want to play with other great players. I don’t think it’s best for me to be Batman, I’m OK to be Robin on a really good team.” The next step was to get Barker on campus for her official visit.
NCAA Tournament UCLA Nebraska Texas A&M Janiah Barker
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