Before he was J.J. Barea, the crowd favorite who tore up the Lakers in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals, the Mavericks’ spitfire guard was Jose Juan Barea, Northeastern standout.
His rise to national prominence this postseason has made Barea the Huskies’ biggest NBA star since Reggie Lewis. And there’s plenty of pride to go around on Huntington Avenue.
“He kind of personifies a lot of the values and qualities of Northeastern,” athletic director Peter Roby told Metro.
“He’s hard-working, earnest, humble — and in some ways, he’s a little bit of the underdog. And he’s risen above just about everybody to play at the highest level.”
Roby couldn’t say enough about the impact having a star like Barea among the alumni base can do for both the basketball program and the school as a whole.
