It’s fun to watch great players push through challenges. Barber has sat the state ablaze with his shooting and overall scoring ability for the last 18 months.  He faced his toughest test in Oklahoma with the best defender in the state, Barrett picking him up. There were some early struggles for the Jaguar senior. But as the game progressed he won a couple reps in their individual chess match.

He was always looking for openings, and was willing to move off the ball to create those openings to get away from the dogged defense. In the second half he even buried two big triples that translate to college. One was a deep look right over Barrett who was sagging just a little bit. The other came during Westmoore’s frenzied comeback, where he corralled a long rebound and with ice in his veins drained the open look. Barber pushing through adversity and still finding openings to score was a great sign about his ability to translate his shooting and scoring to the next level.

We’ve written quite a bit over the last 12 months how Westmoore senior guard and UCO signee Evan Barber Evan Barber 6'1" | CG Westmoore | 2023 State OK is one of the best shooters in Oklahoma. But that’s not all Barber is and he’s proven that this season. Barber can still absolutely fill it up from just about anywhere on the floor as the range continues to be ridiculous. But Barber can score from everywhere and has become one of the best scorers in the state this season. In fact, last month, Barber became the school’s all time leading scorer. And there’s no doubt that he’s playing some of his best basketball and doing it at a high level. As mentioned earlier, the Jaguars have some very impressive wins and Barber has walked away with MVP awards in some of the toughest tournament fields this season. All eyes in Class 6A will be on Westmoore at Edmond North on Friday night and particularly Barber going head to head with Edmond North’s star guard TO Barrett TO Barrett 6'4" | SG Link Academy | 2024 #138 Nation MO , who might be the best defensive guard in the state.

We’ll be writing about Westmoore later this week in a practice report but there’s no doubt that the Jaguars are arguably the hottest team in Class 6A right now as they won their 11th game in a row, beating Millwood to capture the John Nobles tourney in Moore. The Jaguars have been balanced all season but they also have an ace up their sleeve with senior sharpshooter Evan Barber Evan Barber 6'1" | CG Westmoore | 2023 State OK . The Westmoore senior has been one of the best shooters in the state for a while now and he helped lead the Jaguars to the tournament title and walked away with MVP honors on Saturday night. Just like Dow and Broken Arrow, Barber has played a similar role this season for Westmoore. He hasn’t led them in scoring every time out but if that’s what they need, he can flip that switch and fill it up from the perimeter.

A complete game with a championship was a fitting end to a complete week for Barber. After torching the nets in the opener, he displayed the totality of his offensive arsenal in the following victories. With the improved Westmoore offense, there’s more opportunities for him to show off his smart off the ball movement. He eagerly hunts for spot up three pointers, or can get to the rim on cuts when the defense overplays him. There’s aspects to Barber’s game that are best when he’s on the ball. But with guard positions becoming more interchangeable, it’s great to see the growth in the UCO’s signee scoring arsenal.

One more sign that he’s college ready? Twice in the second half, he received open looks off his teammate’s grabbing offensive rebounds. Barber drilled them both. The open three pointer after an offensive rebound is becoming a back breaking staple of modern basketball. And chances are if Barber is the one open, the shot is going in.

Maybe Westmoore wasn’t the pick heading into the Putnam City Invitational but the Jaguars proved they belong in consideration with the best in Class 6A after beating Putnam City West and Norman in back to back days to capture the PCI title. Senior guard and UCO signee Evan Barber Evan Barber 6'1" | CG Westmoore | 2023 State OK continued his claim to be one of the top shooters in the state as he helped lead the Jaguars to the tournament title. Barber absolutely exploded in the tourney after being somewhat contained, that didn’t last long. Westmoore first knocked off the host Patriots on Friday and then they got a little revenge on a Norman team that had beaten them a month ago in the Norman tourney. Barber also hit seven threes in their first round win over Putnam City. The Jaguars are gaining more and more confidence and are going to be a fun team to watch in Class 6A as we move into the second half of the regular season.

Putnam City West’s rep as one of the best defensive teams is well earned and Barber wasn’t as efficient as the night before from three. But he was just as impactful, working more in the midrange and playing the role of floor general. Last year when watching Westmoore, they were at times overly reliant on Barber and Hays for their offensive production. Now they are filled shooters around them, and Barber was able to help his teammates succeed by taking advantage of the extra attention paid to him. This has especially stood out with the UCO signee’s improved vision.  Most players tend to “look away” after passing to create a “no look” aspect for highlight videos. That is not the case with Barber, as in this tournament he is making a habit of legitimate no look passes that manipulate defenders and create high quality looks for his teammates.

It was a stellar shooting performance for the UCO signee in Westmoore’s comfortable victory over Putnam City. There’s a microwave aspect to Barber’s shooting, as the rim must look huge after the first make, and the proceeding threes come in bunches. On a rare miss, he showed great anticipation to corral the long rebound, then rifled a no look pass that set up an “hockey assist” for a teammate’s three of his own. A date with the iconic pressure defense of Putnam City West awaits on Friday night, it will be a good test for Barber and Westmoore as they look to gain momentum and build their resume to be a potential Regional host next month.

Westmoore dropped back to back games to Del City and Norman to finish off the Joe Lawson Invitational but they bounced back with a big road win over Deer Creek Tuesday night, beating the Antlers 63-38. Leading the way was senior guard Evan Barber Evan Barber 6'1" | CG Westmoore | 2023 State OK , who could not be contained with a game-high 29 points on the night. Barber also reached a nice milestone in the win over the Antlers. With his 29 points on Tuesday, he would eclipse 1,000 points for his career. Barber has been considered one of the better shooters in Class 6A for the last year so that’s not surprising that he’s been able to fill up the stat sheet during his career. Westmoore has another huge road match-up on Friday night that should get plenty of attention in Class 6A. They travel to face a Moore team that has some momentum.

Continuing the theme of elite shooters, the UCO signee is another flamethrower from beyond the arc.  The lefty has a compact and quick motion, which means he does not need much space to hit from beyond the arc. And once he has that brief space, it does. not take much time either for him to heat up either. Add in a strong frame that allows him to take contact off the bounce, and Barber will be one of the best scorers in Oklahoma for a Jaguars team that looks to be on the cusp of being a State Tournament contender in 6A.

Just outside of cracking the top five is Westmoore guard Evan Barber Evan Barber 6'1" | CG Westmoore | 2023 State OK . In our last update in June, we put Barber in the top ten and corrected a mistake made back in January. And Barber has once again made moves up the rankings this time around. There are few prospects in the 2023 class who had better performances than Barber throughout the spring and summer, while playing for ROGUE in various tournaments all across the region. Not only was Barber usually always one of the top performers in tournaments he played in, he also brought complete consistency. You knew what you were going to get every time you saw him play and he would continue to evolve his game, while not losing who he truly is, which is one of the best shooters in the state, regardless of class.