Editor Frank's note:
Barry Welsh is a 5'10" PG for Class A Abingdon High School located in
Central Illinois. Barry has started and starred for his high school team since he was a
freshman. Last year he led his Abingdon Commandos to the Sectional Championships losing to
Peoria Woodroof. Next year Barry will star for the Indiana State Sycamores as he has
earned himself a full athletic scholarship. However, he has not lost focus of the season
at hand, as he tries to lead his currently 12th ranked team in the state to the promised
land...The State Championship.
We have asked Barry to submit two Player Journals for this his first time. The first he talks mostly about his earlier days and the second is recent.
Hello ballers and fans from around the way. I'm Barry Welsh, a pg from central/southern Illinois, Peoria area. I play for Abingdon H.S.; we're currently 8th ranked in class A with a 12-2 record. I've been playing ball everyday since 5th grade, and nothing compares to basketball in my life. I love the game and practice all the time rather it be in the gym or on the streets, it's all fun.
I've already signed
on to continue my career at Indiana State. I'm really excited about going and playing for
the Sycamores next year. 
Though it's a big part of my future I try not to think about it too much and just concentrate on the season right now. My top 5 schools came down to ISU, Creighton, Evansville, USC, and Wisc. GB. I chose ISU because of the coach's, players, and distance.
Back to my earlier days. Last year the Abingdon Commandos went 27-3 and lost in the sectional championship. It was a great year. After that got over I skipped my prom (told my date the day before) and went to play with The Illinois Warriors. I played sporadically with them in t-ments around the midwest. In early July I hurt my ankles and sat out most of the month, including the big AAU t-ments. In the later part of July I went with my h.s. team to the Steamboat Classic in TN. I played real well and made the top 100 in the country by Bob Gibbons, a well-known talent scout. This opened up a lot of doors for me. After Steamboat was done I went to 5-star camp and sat out all week because of my ankle.
Now I'm healthy and playing again, I've learned to wear my braces and my sole focus is getting to the state t-ment. I want to thank Frank Rusnak and High School Elite for asking me to write and I'll keep you updated.
barry24
On Wednesday night we played Knoxville for the semi game in regionals. They played a great game but we came out on top 67-65. I played real well, I had 31pts, 5rbds, 6steals, and ?assists(not counted). It was a tough 4th quarter, I don't think I've ever heard that much noise by two student sections. Knoxville shot 9-10 from the field in the 4th and hit 4 threes, it was an unbelievable shooting performance. I had 12pts in the frame and with 4 seconds left took the ball the length of the court for a game winning lay-up. The place went nuts and our crowd charged the floor. The Knoxville fans wanted a charge but the tape clearly showed it was a block and the ball made it threw the net on time so that's it, on to the championship game tonight.
So far this season I've gotten chosen 1st team all-state AP, and also made 1st team sun-times. I won the Jim O'Flaherty memorial award and most importantly I've had a great time doing what I love, playing ball everyday. My teammates make the game real fun, we've got a great team and great guys. We hang out all the time on and off the court, I can't believe it's already post-season and it could be over with one loss, but that's the chance you take and tonight we're going all out vs. 3rd ranked Farmington, I live for this.
barry welsh 24
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