From homeless to hoop dreams. How a Tri-Cities athlete fought his way to NCAA D1 offers
When LaTrell Barker was a teen, he and his cousin would drive 20 minutes from Phoenix to Tempe just to walk around on the Arizona State University campus.
Barker just wanted to soak in the atmosphere and feel what it would be like on a major college campus.
He always had hopes and dreams of one day being officially enrolled at a school like that.
But the 21-year-old has endured more than most kids ever face, including his mom’s murder, bouncing from one relative’s home to another and struggling with his studies.
Thanks in part to some remarkable Tri-Cities supporters, the Columbia Basin College student now has a chance to shine at the top level of college basketball.
He’s already getting offers and the attention of many NCAA Division I schools.
But first, there was this thing called the Northwest Athletic Conference championship basketball tournament he played in for CBC in Pasco this week.
There are 16 teams starting play in the men’s tournament, and the champion must win four consecutive games over 12 days. Any loss, and you’re done. CBC was knocked out in its second game.
Now, the 6-foot-8 sophomore will head to a four-year school to continue his basketball career.
He’s averaging 12.8 points and 8.6 rebounds (11th best in the entire NWAC) for the 19-8 CBC Hawks. Barker has started in all 27 games and shoots 57% from the floor.
And his bigger dreams are of playing professionally.
That will come later though. For Barker, it’s been about the journey — one that has had its share of turbulence.
The beginning
When he was just 3, Barker’s mother, Consquelo, was brutally stabbed to death by his father, Isiah Patterson in Mesa, Ariz., in 2006.
Patterson was sentenced to death for his crime but remains on death row in an Arizona state prison.
But what happens to a 3-year-old who now has neither parent?
His mother’s sister, Ericka Barker, was the first to step forward.
“My aunt adopted me. And she did her best,” Barker told the Tri-City Herald.
As he grew up, his passion for sports grew.
Over the years, he played more football than basketball, mainly because playing top-level AAU hoops meant paying $400 a month for the privilege.
“Auntie put me in a community center league for basketball. But Pop Warner football was a a one-time fee,” he said.
After a time, the relatives on his father’s side, who had lost an initial custody battle for him when he was 3, again reached out, wanting to reconnect with him.
Barker had never met any of his dad’s family, but he went to Chicago where they lived when he was a seventh grader.
Then COVID hit and the pandemic shutdowns kept him in Chicago for six months.
He lost some athletic development time. Online school was not effective for him either. So his grades dropped and his weight ballooned to 265 pounds.
Arizona return
When Barker finally came back to Arizona, he was living with three of his mother’s sisters.
“I ended up bouncing between all my sisters’ houses,” he said. He then ended up at a cousin’s for a while.
Hardly ever under the same roof for very long, Barker was essentially nearly homeless without a permanent place to stay.
He was sidelined by a ligament injury for a time, and depression set in.
He played sports at a couple prep schools in the Phoenix area, even was able to get onto a post-high school prep school, Phoenix Prep.
His athletic abilities earned him the chance to attend the school. In all, Barker attended four prep schools during his high school career.
The talented football player grew into a quick and agile wide receiver and defensive end, and college coaches — including some from Alabama — talked to him. But they never came back for a second conversation.
“I started to think it was grades,” Barker said.
They had gotten worse for two reasons: He didn’t excel with online classes, and he really had no consistent adult oversight.
Basketball focus
Eventually, someone involved with an Amateur Athletic Union travel team saw his basketball talent, and helped him get onto an elite AAU basketball team based out of Las Vegas. The team traveled around the country during the summer of 2022.
Barker had to work himself back into shape.
“I was playing against a lot of ranked guys. I didn’t know who a lot of them were. I was out there playing and having fun,” Barker said. “When I found out who some of them were, I realized I could play with them. I can do this.”
The few offers he received to play for a college were to a military school and Chandler-Gilbert Community College in Phoenix.
“It was really important for my development to limit distractions,” he said. “I needed to be around positive people doing the same thing as me.”
But college classes were starting and Barker had a problem. He had no high school diploma.
That’s about the time CBC men’s basketball coach Anthony Owens took a call from Barker’s former coach in the Phoenix area.
He wanted to know if Owens could take a kid who was for the most part homeless.
CBC doesn’t start classes usually until the final week of September, so Owens agreed to Barker coming to Pasco.
“But I told the school housing people if they didn’t hear from me by Sept. 3, to take back the dorm room,” said Owens. “My (former) coach called me Sept. 1, but he told me LaTrell didn’t have his high school diploma. And I didn’t think, at the time, that this kid was going to need financial aid. I should have known.”
Barker arrived on the CBC campus in September 2022, not sure what to expect.
“I took a leap of faith to come here,” said Barker. “I got off that plane at the airport and saw the campus was right there. I saw the gym at night. I saw the dormitory. I had a bad perception coming in. But it was the complete opposite.”
Owens remembers the first thing he told Barker.
“When I took him to my home that first night, I told him I wanted him to be a kid and enjoy college life,” he said. “He had never really had a chance to be a kid.”
High school degree
The next step was for Barker to get his high school equivalency certificate, General Educational Development, or GED.
Owens showed Barker’s transcripts to one of CBC’s counselors. She saw that he’d gotten good grades and also noticed they weren’t just rudimentary courses.
Barker had taken Honors classes in some of his prep schools. His freshman year at Tempe Prep he was taking Greek Mythology and first-year German.
But Barker lacked confidence.
“He told me, ‘I don’t think I can do this, Coach,’” said Owens. “I told him, ‘Here are your options: you can pass the test or go home.”
Barker passed all four parts in a two-week period, earning his GED and making himself eligible to play his freshman season at CBC.
It all became simple for Barker after that.
“I knew I needed to stay on top of my academics, and I loved sports,” he said. “The big important thing is I don’t want to repeat this cycle.”
So he’s immersed himself into the college life of a student athlete.
Baker also has mastered editing of Tik-Tok and Instagram videos. He makes a lot of them, and has found a way to help pay for things such as food.
He gets free tacos from one restaurant in Pasco for his videos. Another Kennewick restaurant owners gives him free meals for his promotional videos.
“Mainly, I don’t have to worry about anything right now but basketball and school,” said Barker.
Now, four-year school coaches are noticing him.
Barker already has either offers or seen interest from University of Nebraska-Omaha, Cal State Bakersfield, Utah Tech, IUPUI, Eastern Washington, Central Washington, University of Missouri-St. Louis, Weber State and numerous NAIA schools.
Owens adds Wyoming and Portland State to the list.
“All the (four-year) guys call me. I tell them you’re not going to find a guy who works this hard,” said Owens.
Barker spends a lot of time in the gym, trying to get in 500 to 1,000 basketball shots each day. He’s lifting weights to put on more muscle.
He’s meditating, something Eric Woods — his teammate and roommate — got him into.
And he’s watching film on his team or an upcoming opponent.
“I’ve developed a work ethic. I never really watched basketball or football before. Now I watch it a lot,” said Barker. “I also write things down too. My goals. My visions. My thoughts.”
One goal is to be a business major.
‘Do the right thing’
There is a close relationship between Barker and Owens — the guy who took a chance on a stranger.
Owens admits he can get mad at Barker at times, like he does any goofy student-athlete.
“But he’s the biggest teddy bear you’ll ever find,” he said. “Overall, he’s a good human being. He is a good individual who needs some guidance. But he needed stability in his life. He’s still learning and growing. He wants to do the right thing.”
Barker admires Owens for what he’s done.
“He’s a pretty cool father figure and I’ve learned a lot from him,” said Barker. “He’s helped me as far as basketball is concerned. He’s helped me really love this game. But he’s also been invested in me. He’s helped me grow as a person and a player.”
Owens is a bit protective of Barker too.
He wants to help him find the right place after CBC.
Owens never minces words when he promotes his players to four-year schools. He’s going to tell those coaches what they’re going to get.
“If he plays well in this tournament, he’ll get a high-level major program after him,” said Owens. “The problem is if he gets to a high-major program, they’re gonna expect a finished product, and he might just end up sitting on the bench. He needs someone that’s going to work with him, because I know he’ll get better.”
Barker will be ready for his next opportunity, no matter where it is.
He just wants everyone to know how appreciative he is with the help he’s gotten: from his aunt to his sisters, cousins, AAU coaches, CBC teammates, and of course, Anthony Owens and his assistants.
“Having a support system here helps,” said Barker. “A lot of people have helped me get this far. It’s about the journey. And a lot of people have helped me through this journey.”
Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.
