McGill-Toolen 2022 star forward Barry Dunning Jr. ‘not your average teenager’

The topic of conversation revolved around Barry Dunning Jr., the state of Alabama’s top basketball player in the Class of 2022. The 6-foot-6, 175-pound Dunning is already a known commodity in basketball circles at every level. He has multiple college offers including Auburn, Alabama, Louisiana, Ole Miss and South Alabama. He told AL.com this week the thought of playing in the NBA has long been a goal, but it’s not something he is concentrating on right now. “It’s one of my dreams for sure,” he said. “I feel blessed and glad to know they recognize me as a basketball player. It’s a possibility down the road, but right now I’m focused on going to college for four years and being an orthopedic doctor eventually. It would be great to get there (the NBA) one day and pursue those dreams, but I’ve got other goals as well.” “The scout told me he had been hired by six or seven teams to study the Class of 2022 because they think that might be the first year players will be allowed to jump straight from high school to the NBA,” Murphy said. “He talked to me, talked to our AD (Bill Griffin), a couple of Barry’s teachers. I think they were just trying to get background on Barry in case that did happen.”