By Dylan Butler
Even though his team fell to the University of Miami Sunday afternoon, the smile on sophomore point guard Erick Barkley's face was unmistakable.
“Whew! It felt real good to play,” he said after the Red Storm's 78-74 overtime loss to the Hurricanes at Miami Arena.
Barkley returned to the court after being declared ineligible before last Tuesday night's game against Seton Hall. The former Christ the King star opted to sit out of practice Thursday and did not arrive in Miami in time to practice with St. John's on Friday. Barkley, who was reinstated by the NCAA late Friday morning, did participate in a one-hour workout Saturday.
“As soon as I got the news, I jumped on the next plane to Miami,” Barkley said. “I hope this is all behind me now.”
Of course the Miami fans didn't let Barkley forget his troubles with the NCAA. Hurricane fans dangled car keys and waved dollar bills at the sophomore point guard and chanted, “Bark-ley, Bark-key” anytime he touched the ball.
“Yeah, I heard them,” Barkley said of the Miami crowd. “I've just got to live with it. Anytime people bring up the past, it's just silly.”
As a condition of his reinstatement, Barkley has to repay $3,500 in financial assistance he received while attending Maine Central Institute in 1997-98. Last Tuesday, St. John's admitted Riverside Church provided Barkley with support in the amount of $3,150 out of $21,000, the total cost of tuition.
Against Miami, Barkley had 15 points in 43 minutes. However, he missed the front end of two free throws with 15.2 seconds left and St. John's leading 61-60. After hitting the second free throw, Miami's Mario Bland nailed a foul-line jumper with two seconds left to send the game into overtime.
With St. John's down, 72-70, and nine seconds left in overtime, Barkley picked up a rebound and drove the lane, only to have his shot rejected by Elton Tyler.
“It was a foul, I got hit,” Barkley said. “They didn't make the call. I have to live with it.”
The loss snaps the Red Storm's eight-game winning streak and dropped Mike Jarvis' team to No. 3, behind Syracuse and Miami in the Big East Tournament seedings. But all that doesn't faze Barkley.
“I'm sure we'll bounce back,” he said. “We've got two more seasons [The Big East and NCAA tournaments] to go.”
