“I think we’ve done a great job – I’ve done a better job, myself, as well – of going after the right kind of guy and avoiding the temptation to go after the talent and not necessarily the whole person,” said Licht at his pre-draft media session two weeks ago. “I think we’ve done a great job – my staff has done a great job of identifying that with our character grade. We put a lot of stock into that. When you see players getting in trouble, suspended, whatever, I’ll look it up and, yep, we had a ‘do not touch’ grade on them. It’s been phenomenal in that regard.”
The importance of relationships and team-building to Barton is evident in his collegiate experience. A three-star recruit in Tennessee, Barton received scholarship offers from a variety of high-powered football programs, including Mississippi State and Michigan State. He chose Duke primarily because of the connection he felt with former Head Coach David Cutcliffe. As he developed into a top-flight player for the Blue Devils, earning first-team All-ACC honors in 2022, he had opportunities to enter the transfer portal, and a move likely would have included some monetary NIL benefits.
“First and foremost, I think I’ve always told myself I don’t play football to make money – that’s just a byproduct of working really hard,” said Barton. “I play football because I love football. I want to continue to chase that success. Duke was the best situation for me. I loved my head coach, I loved my position coach, I loved my strength coach, I loved my teammates.
“My best friends are my teammates in that locker room coming from Duke, so there was no reason for me to leave and there was no amount of money that would’ve drawn me away. That will come if you stay true to who you are and your process. That really wasn’t a concern for me. I knew I was in the right situation for me as a football player. Obviously, there was some interest, but I really chose not to entertain it.”
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