Harrison Barnes

So in case you hadn't heard, the top high school basketball recruit in the nation plays here in Ames - a 6'6" hotshot named Harrison Barnes. On Friday, he held a ceremony in the Ames High School gymnasium to announce to the world where he would be attending college next fall.

Now, let's be clear - I have never seen Harrison play before. I have never been to an Ames High basketball game before. But as a journalist, I take note when something newsworthy is going down in my neighborhood, so me and my buddy Justan Spaid took part of our Friday off to go wallow in the hype.

We filed into the gym with hundreds of other fans, our hearts racing as Harrison led up to his announcement. He had it narrowed down to six schools: five NCAA basketball powerhouses (Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, UCLA, Oklahoma) and one agricultural powerhouse (ISU). The odds were stacked against us, but I definitely wasn't the only one sporting cardinal and gold, ready to take it off and spin it like a helicopter just in case a miracle happened.

It didn't. Turns out Petey Pab was right - this one really was for North Carolina.

And it was the right call - I mean, seriously, when Michael Jordan meets you in person and tells you where to play ball, that's where you play ball, right? And for those who would say Harrison "betrayed" us - come on, you can't help but root for this kid. I've read a lot of articles about him during the recruiting process, and almost every one of them mentions his excellent character on and off the court. He also goes to my church, and the pastors there have said he's a classy young man who is trying to live his life for God (click here to see him dunking on college pastor Mark Arant).

So, it looks I'll root for the Tar Heels for awhile, and who knows - maybe in a couple years Harrison will even inspire me to turn on an NBA game now and then.

Personally, I'm just waiting for his breakout role as MJ's quippy sidekick in Space Jam 2...