Former Worcester Academy Star Billy Baron Finds Home at Canisius

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Friday, May 31, 2013

Matt Metcalf, GoLocalWorcester Sports Contributor

Billy Baron drives the ball to the basket in a game against Syracuse last season.

Three different schools in three years. That's been all that the casual basketball fan knows about Billy Baron these days. Baron, the former Worcester Academy product, has found out the hard way that the third time is a charm.

After attending Worcester Academy for a post-graduate year, Baron accepted a scholarship to play in the prestigious Atlantic Coast Conference, electing to attend Virginia University over his father, Jim Baron's, University of Rhode Island Rams. Playing quite a bit at the beginning on the season, Baron starred for Virginia in the team's first handful of games against weaker competition. When Conference played rolled around, however, Baron saw few minutes. When it was all said and done in his freshman season at Virginia, Baron averaged just three points per game and 11.1 minutes per game off of the bench.

Unhappy with his playing time, Baron chose to leave Virginia and transfer to URI, which drew criticism from many who thought that should have been his original decision. Having to sit out a portion of his sophomore season, Baron stepped in right away for the Rams, averaging 13 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, while logging 32.3 minutes per game as URI's primary ball handler. Even though Baron was playing well, the team wasn't, finishing 7-24 on the season, leading to the firing of Jim Baron.

Unsure whether to stay at URI or transfer, Baron once again elected to follow his father, when he was hired by Canisius College in upstate Buffalo, New York.

Playing in a weaker conference than he was used to, Baron lit up the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference this past season, averaging a team-high 17.2 points per game, good for third in the conference. Leading his team to a 20-14 overall record, Baron scored a total of 584 points on the season, the most of any player at Canisius in 28 seasons. Baron was also named First-Team All-MAAC, becoming the first Canisius player since the 1999-00 season to be named to the leagues' top all-star unit.

Finally having the luxury of being at the same school two years in a row should pay major dividends for Baron, who looks poised to have a monster senior season.

I guess good things really do come to those who wait.