BYU Floor General Alex Barcello Has Become College Basketball’s Best Shooter

PROVO, Utah – When Alex Barcello transferred from Arizona to BYU basketball last year, the former four-star recruit shot 29 percent from three as a member of the Wildcats. Now his second year with the analytically driven Mark Pope, Barcello has become college basketball’s best shooter.

The senior guard is shooting 63 percent from three-point range this season. Knocking down 29 of his 46 three-point attempts. A total of 89 players in college basketball have attempted 40 three-point shots or more this season. The closest to Barcello in three-point percentage is Georgia State’s Corey Allen at 56.2 percent.

SPLASH 👌☔️#BYUhoops x @AlexBarcello23 pic.twitter.com/czs0P85gr6

— BYU Basketball (@BYUbasketball) December 30, 2020

It doesn’t start and end with three-point shooting. Barcello is shooting 60 percent from the field as he leads BYU in scoring with 16.9 points per game.

A captain and leader of the team, Barcello has become a playmaker at BYU. Thirteen percent of his three-point attempts this season are not from assists, highlighting his ability to create off the bounce.

Analytically-focused programs such as ShotTracker and ShotQuality have helped Barcello go from being just a guy in the Arizona program to now being a potential All-American at BYU. Barcello, who broke his wrist at the end of last season, worked hard in the off-season to improve his game. He trained with MOVE Performance near his hometown of Chandler, Arizona during the pandemic to stay at the top of his game.

Alex Barcello is leading BYU basketball to another special season

Barcello’s efficient play has BYU at 9-2 after a difficult non-conference schedule and in a position to make a run at an At-Large NCAA Tournament bid with West Coast Conference play starting up (Thursday, at Pepperdine, 5 p.m.).

Pope always preaches getting better every day in his program, and Barcello exemplifies that to the fullest as he has elevated his play from the fourth or fifth wheel on last year’s 24-win team to now the captain and leader. A path the Arizona native never expected to make playing at BYU, but it’s worked out perfectly. Almost as perfect as his shot this season.

Floor general. pic.twitter.com/ko8pY9hDLh

— BYU Basketball (@BYUbasketball) December 22, 2020

Barcello’s hot shooting pace has the potential to rewrite the record books at BYU. Andy Toolson set the single-season record for three-point field goal percentage at BYU in 1990 at 49 percent. Barcello is well on his way towards scorching that record.

The only record Barcello cares about is racking up wins for BYU. With how he’s shooting, the Cougars will be a threat once again in March.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m., KSL Newsradio). Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper and the KSL Sports app.