Behind The Decision That Led Hasani Barr To Baylor


It was October 7, 2018, and Hasani Barr couldn't stop fidgeting. 

In the moments before the most important meeting of his life, the senior from Cardinal Ritter College Preparatory High School in St. Louis, Missouri, couldn't stop thinking about what he was going to say when he stepped into the track and field office at the University of Baylor. 

Should I play hard to get? 

Maybe I need to ask questions?

What if I just say what I'm feeling? 

At that point, the 17-year-old was as clear as he's ever been about something, but he wasn't quite sure that he should just come right out and say it. 

Sure, Barr had been on the Bears' campus for just three days in Waco, Texas, but he also knew it felt like home, and it was the place he envisioned spending the next four years of his life in. That was in large part due to his late grandfather.

Barr knew this was James Gardner's (below, right) dream, too. He remembered years earlier how Gardner would coach him with training plans made famous by Clyde Hart, the legendary Baylor track coach --- and now the Director of Track and Field with the Bears. He never forgot the many times his grandfather would spin stories about the careers of Michael Johnson and Jeremy Wariner, the quarter-mile Olympians the Bears had developed over the years.  

Barr was a 200 and 400 meter sprinter, too, and these stories always hit home.

But that was before he realized how important his grandfather was in his life, and it was before Gardner's death in 2017, just a year after he received heart bypass surgery.  

While it didn't strike Barr immediately how important the loss was, the burden became clear when he faced adversity for the first time in his life. 

Gardner wasn't able to comfort him when he tweaked his hamstring and lost the 400m state championship race his sophomore year in Missouri. His grandfather couldn't pat him on the back and tell him it was OK when he missed almost his entire junior season and feared that colleges would walk away from him. 

And so when Barr fought through those struggles, rehabbing from an injury as a sophomore, and then another as a junior -- before returning to the track to claim a third-place finish at the AAU Junior Olympics in 2018 -- everything started to sink in. This was all for a greater purpose. 

"He really wanted it," Angela Miller, the head coach of the AAU club, USA, said of Barr's effort. 

The door opened and a recruit walked out. 

Barr knew it was his time. He was wearing his lucky chain, a necklace that featured a clear crystal quartz, which symbolized healing. 

It didn't take him long. 

He sat down, looked Baylor track and field associate coach Michael Ford and head coach Todd Harbor right in the eye: 

"I told him straight up," Barr remembered. "I said 'Coach, I know there have been athletes who have told you they want to go to your school and run for you, but I feel like I need to be here. I want to be the best.'"

It wasn't long after these fateful words when the Bears offered Barr a scholarship. It was a promise that would cover the last three years of his schooling in Waco. 

If he could run 46.5 seconds in the 400m as a senior, they said, he would be a lock for a full ride. 

It was good news for the Cardinal Ritter senior, who was overjoyed. While he had taken visits to Houston, Texas Tech, Iowa and Clemson, he knew this was the place he wanted to be. 

He committed to Baylor on October 16. 

"Just knowing that I was in the same facilities and buildings as the people I've grown up admiring and hearing about, such as Michael Johnson and Jeremy Wariner, the feeling was incredible," Barr said. "I met Clyde Hart. This dude is a legend. I can see myself already walking those same hallways and being in that same uniform." 

Barr's resume was certainly a big reason why the Bears bet on him. 

As a freshman in 2016, the Missouri athlete went 21.90 in the 200m and 47.41 in the 400m, finishing second overall to Tyrese Cooper at the AAU Junior Olympic Games. He netted the third fastest time in the country for his class that season. 

After Gardner passed away the following year, Barr continued to run well. He lowered his 200m best to 21.51 seconds and split open 400m times of 47.57 and 47.44 in district and sectional qualifying. 

But a fitting end to his sophomore season never came, and Barr had to settle for second at the state championships. Then a forgettable performance at Great Southwest (48.36) followed. 

Barr ultimately helped Ultimate Speed Academy win a 15-16 age group 4x400 title that July at the AAU Junior Olympics, splitting 47.4 on the anchor, though he only managed a winning effort of 48.91 in the open 400m, which didn't meet his expectations. 

When a hip injury surfaced his junior year, Barr missed his entire outdoor season. 

But his response to that injury also said much about his work ethic. Once healthy, Barr put a few weeks of training under his belt and proceeded to race again, going from 51.21 seconds in the quarter to 47.99 by the AAU Junior Olympics. 

That drive to get back on the track made a difference to college coaches, Miller believed, and his recruiting picked up immediately after those performances at the Games. 

"It said a lot about his character," Miller said of Barr's return to the track. "It let us know he was extremely serious about the next level. He was resilient and bounced back." 

What also helped was Miller's guidance over that time. The mother of Brandon Miller, the national-class 800m runner from Missouri, she got to know Barr following his grandfather's death and ultimately helped, at least in some ways, order his life. 

She emailed college coaches on his behalf and scheduled doctor's appointments. She made sure he studied for the ACT--he got a 20--and also acted as a sounding board when he had questions. 

"It was essentially, 'Hey 'Sani, what do you need?'" Miller said (right). "And when he needed something, I would say, 'OK, what's wrong?' How can I help?'"

Barr's mother and his aunts were in his life, but the loss of his grandfather meant that Miller filled a gap in his track life. 

"Coach Angela knows me as a person and as an athlete," Barr said. "She cares about me." 

"I think when he got injured he dealt with it well," Miller said. "Some kids would have quit, and I could tell it was taking a toll on 'Sani, but the team embraced him and tried to be a close family and support him. We kept him encouraged and we told him, 'This tough time is going to pass.'" 

One of the biggest struggles Barr dealt with during his injury this past spring, he said, was the loss of athletics itself. For a long time, he said, he had been viewed only for his successes, but when the absence of wins and fast times created a void in his life, he noticed how people lost interest in his day-to-day wellness.  

"I'm more than just an athlete," Barr said. "At the end of the day, people didn't really get to know who I was or what I was about. Some people just saw me by my times. They didn't know the story behind them." 

Barr realized he needed to create his own happiness. And so he said he leaned on his family, his supportive girlfriends, and his track family. 

That positive mindset ultimately lifted him past the negativity. He calls himself "The CEO of my own company," which essentially means he's holding himself accountable. 

Barr knows he still has some unfinished business. The senior wants to answer Baylor's faith in him by splitting under 47 seconds in the open 400m for the first time in his career. 

He also has hopes of dropping his 200m time, and said he will likely focus on that race early in the spring season.

"As far as my track age, I haven't run a lot," Barr said. "So my injuries have helped me a lot. I do have goals for my senior season."

But to do that, Barr says, he needs to focus.

That shouldn't be too hard. His grandfather is always in the back of his mind, and Barr says much of what he does is dedicated to his late mentor. On his track spikes, he has 'R.I.P Grand Daddy' and '#statementseason' in marker.

"I saw a video recently and it was saying people can't rise to the occasion, they already have to be the best," Barr said. "so I already view myself as the best. I see myself as being the best. I know it's there, but I'm just working to get there, and I have to believe."

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 A funny thing happened a few days after Barr's commitment to Baylor.

Harbor texted him and said, 'I'll call you tomorrow.'

Barr was worried at first. He's going to tell me something I don't want to hear.

But then the day came.

He saw Harbor's number, answered the phone, and to his surprise, heard something unexpected.

"He told me I had a scholarship for all four years," Barr said. "I thought to myself, 'My grand dad told me this is where I needed to be, and now he's upstairs pulling strings for me.' This is it."

* Barr split 47.4 on the anchor of the AAU Junior Olympics' 15-16 age group 4x400 championship in 2017

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Contact National Producer Cory Mull at cory.mull@flosports.tv or on Twitter @bycorymull