Prospect Spotlight: Jha-Barrie Portis (2021 Southridge)

<p><br /> To say that Southridge had a tough season in 2019-20 would be an understatement. But instead of jumping ship, senior [player_tooltip player_id="855936" first="Jha-Barrie" last="Portis"] has stayed the course. The athletic 6-foot-1, 165-pound combo guard is looking forward to his senior season with the Skyhawks, playing back again for a familiar face and hoping to shine and show off the work he’s put in during the off-season to college basketball coaches.</p> <p>"I’ve just been working on myself," Portis said. "I’ve gained some weight which is good - last year I was 150 (pounds) and now I’m 165. I’ve been working out, working on my jumpshot and working on my handles and my guard game as much as I can, getting ready for this season and hopefully next year also."</p> <p>Portis - a very active performer who plays hard on both ends of the floor - played a little bit of AAU basketball with Active PCH in November but has mostly tried to find action at parks both locally and in Portland. He wants to continue playing on at the college and has received some interest. Other than some contact from Cal State Maritime, the looks have mainly been from the NWAC from schools such as Tacoma, Highline, and Portland CC.</p> <p>"My name is out there and JUCO is probably the best thing for me at the moment," Portis said. "I haven’t had a lot of exposure and I had a tough junior year. Fortunately I have a season so that right there took a lot of load off my shoulders - now I’ve just got to play and be the hooper that I can be and open up coaches eyes."</p> <p>Speaking of the season, Portis is looking forward to having a big year which will once again be under long-time head coach Phil Vesel, who returns after taking last season off on sabbatical.</p> <p>"It’s comfortable," Portis said. "As a team we’re more bonded because with we’re bonded with (Vesel) and he knows our strengths. Last year I feel our coach gave us too much freedom and everyone played like how they wanted to play. This time we’re playing to our strengths which is way better. Coach Vesel puts us in great positions to score and plays to our strengths. For us it will just staying mentally tough."</p> <p>"We had a tough year last year and we don’t want to repeat," Portis continued. "This time we have a chance; we have a good group that’s solid. For us we’ve got to stay strong."</p> <p>Portis currently ranks as the #28 player in the PrepHoops Oregon Class of 2021 rankings.</p>