The Bradley basketball team is filled with international talent. The Scout highlighted New Zealander center Callum Barker last week, and the Netherlands, Australia and Great Britain are also represented on the roster.
The Brave’s tallest international player hails from Abyei, South Sudan, an area situated on the border of South Sudan and Sudan. Freshman Koch Bar, pronounced “Cotch,” spent most of his life in Abyei surrounded by a large family, one in which Bar boasts more than 30 siblings.
To the surprise of some, Bar said the experience of having an abnormally large number of siblings was “fun.”
“People will go, ‘Woah, that’s a lot,’ but it’s worked out pretty well for me because they’ve all taught me stuff growing up,” Bar said. “I think they helped me to mature fast, and being around all of that family, they’re going to take care of you … It was fun but hard at the same time. They see everything you do, so you couldn’t do anything without one of them knowing. Being able to communicate with all of them was fun.”
The long-limbed 6’11” center said he was introduced to sports because of his large family. According to Bar, his family is athletic, so being active was natural for him growing up.
“Growing up, I was playing soccer, and people were looking at me growing tall, and they got the idea of me playing basketball,” Bar said. “I wasn’t interested in it [at first], but I started playing it and fell in love with it. I think that’s how I got into basketball. I have a family that loves sports, so I figured, ‘Why not try playing?’”
Bar moved from Abyei to Orlando, Florida, after his sophomore year of high school in an effort to gain more exposure with the end goal of playing college basketball. The transition wasn’t easy, especially from a cultural standpoint.
“America has different cultures and different people,” Bar said. “In Sudan, we don’t have a whole lot of diversity, so instead of different people here you have different races … The food, buildings – everything is different, and you have to adjust everything. I’m still adjusting to eating American food.”
Naturally, the center misses his family from back home. Bar said it’s tough to communicate with them at times. However, his prep school experience allowed him to bond with other international players who were far away from their families, too.
“People around me have been pretty good [to me] so far,” Bar said. “They came from Serbia, Lithuania, some other African countries, so they know what it’s like to live away from home. We know how it feels and balance each other, so I didn’t feel too much of a difference with people.”
Bar had the chance to play with talented players all around the country, including current teammate Jayden Hodgson at Arlington County Day and various other division one athletes on the Indiana Elite AAU team.
“Those are good memories, memories that I’m never going to forget,” Bar said. “Being able to come to the United States [and] play with one of the top 25 traveling teams in the nation was a good experience. When I played with the Indiana Elite, we called ourselves the ‘IU Family’ so we know we’re going to be there for each other, and it’s been pretty good so far … I’ve had the chance to play against and meet some pretty good players, trying to see where I’m at.”
The center drew the eye of many prominent programs around the country, but Bar’s college choice ultimately came down to how he felt on his visit to Bradley.
“I just started playing basketball three years [ago], so I know what it’s like to be behind,” Bar said. “I know people here started playing at age five, some earlier, so I know I have a long way to go to catch up with them.”
While Bar needs to catch up, he said he feels “it’s not going to take [him] a long time to reach the potential [he’s] looking for.”
