High Point’s Nick Barbour Selected for 3-Point Championship on ESPN

HIGH POINT, N.C. — High Point University senior Nick Barbour, who leads the NCAA in three-point percentage, has been selected for the Hampton Hotels Men’s 3-Point Contest in New Orleans, it was announced on Wednesday. The event will be televised live on ESPN on Thursday, March 29, at 9 p.m.

Barbour leads the nation in three-point percentage at 48.4 percent. He drained 3.48 three-pointers per game in 2011-12, ranking second in the nation to only Vanderbilt junior John Jenkins.

Barbour is a three-time All-Big South honoree, earning first-team honors this season. Barbour was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District 3 first team for the second time in his career this season. He is just the second HPU player ever to lead the team in scoring four times in a row.

He is the Panthers’ Div. I career leader in scoring (2,121 points) and averaged 20.4 points per game this season to lead the Big South. The 20.4 ppg currently ranks 12th in the nation. Barbour holds HPU records for three-pointers in a career (314), in a season (108 in 2011-12) and in a game (10 during the 2009-10 season). He finished his collegiate career ranked in High Point’s top five in 11 different categories.

This season, Barbour scored at least 20 points in a game 15 times, over 30 points in six games and over 40 points once. He scored 44 points on Senior Night against Campbell on Feb. 22, setting the record for points in a game in HPU’s Div. I era (since 1999-2000).

The 24th annual State Farm College Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championship is hosted by Intersport and features the State Farm Women’s 3-Point Contest, Hampton Hotels Men’s 3-Point Contest, Pure Protein Battle of the Champions and Denny’s Slam Dunk Contest. It will take place at Tulane University’s Fogelman Arena.

The complete roster for the competition hasn’t been announced yet, but it will also include Duke’s Miles Plumlee, Miami’s DeQuan Jones, Missouri’s Marcus Denmon and Northwestern’s John Shurna. Alumni of the event include Gary Payton (Oregon State), Steve Nash (UC-Santa Clara), Allan Houston (Tennessee), Bobby Hurley (Duke), Michael Finley (Wisconsin), Wes Matthews (Marquette), and Aaron Brooks (Oregon).