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Ricky Barber Jr. excited to play on 'big stage' at UCF

UCF continues to hit it big in the NCAA Transfer Portal.

The latest addition came Wednesday with a commitment from defensive tackle Ricky Barber Jr., who just had a Freshman All-American season at Western Kentucky.

His defensive line coach at WKU? Kenny Martin, who is now on staff at UCF under Gus Malzahn. Barber said he had a lot of interested schools when he hit the portal last week, but the familiarity with Martin elevated UCF above the rest.

"Coach Martin played a big role," Barber told UCFSports.com. "With what we were able to do at Western, I feel we can now do it on a bigger stage. That was big for me too. I already knew about UCF from their undefeated run a few years back. And now coach Gus Malzahn is coming in. He's a winner. He's going to win a lot of games and build the right culture and program. I love that it's on a big stage. I'm definitely looking forward to testing my skills against bigger competition too."

Barber, who is originally from Louisville, said he identified as more of a basketball player growing up, only becoming more serious about football as he entered high school.

"I really didn't know what I was doing at first," he said. "My coach told me to play nose guard and hit the center on every play. I had a really good defensive line coach that taught me fundamentals, showed me how to play."

He started catching attention of colleges following his sophomore season, earning early offers from Cincinnati and Purdue.

"It kind of slowed down after that and then picked up towards the end," Barber said. "When it was committing time, most schools had backed off. Going into my senior year, Western had reached out and offered."

Barber arrived at WKU in 2019 and appeared in four games while maintaining his redshirt. That early experience, plus the opportunity to get bigger and stronger in the weight room, paved the way for his stellar 2020 campaign. Starting all 12 games, Barber recorded 58 total tackles, four sacks, seven tackles for loss, three quarterback hurries and one forced fumble. He was durable too, playing a total of 551 snaps.

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Barber credits Martin for his breakthrough season, recounting a conversation they had following his final high school season in 2018.

"Coach Martin was my recruiter," Barber said. "I had a really good senior season, I led the state in sacks. But I didn't make my All-State team. I told him that in a text, just how disappointed I was. He said, 'Don't worry about it. We'll make you an All-American.' That's a goal we accomplished. I trust him. I know we'll set new goals when I get there."

Barber ended 2020 with an 80.2 PFF grade, posting consistently solid grades every week of the season.

"I had a really good game in week two against Liberty with like 10 tackles and a sack," Barber said. "I think I knew then that I had potential to have a pretty big year. It was definitely a weird season with some games canceled and then rescheduled, but I always trusted what Coach Martin had to say."

Quality defensive tackles are always in high demand, so it's no surprise Barber received a lot of interest when he hit the portal late last week. He seriously considered Tennessee and Penn State, but ultimately chose UCF, making his decision official early Wednesday morning.

"I had a lot of schools reach out," Barber said. "Then when Coach Martin and Coach Gus contacted me, I just felt UCF was my best option. I started off with Coach Martin and I want to see where we can go. I let him them know during a FaceTime call with my parents. They trust him too. I then spoke to everybody - Coach Gus, Coach T-Will. Everybody was excited.

"I'm looking forward to getting down there and going back to work. I was a Freshman All-American, but I know there are things I could have cleaned up. My plan is to keep improving and become a real All-American."

Barber is set to officially report in early June. One of UCF's early-season games? A Friday night game at Louisville on Sept. 17.

"It'll be great to be back home," he said. "That's going to be exciting, hopefully we'll beat them too."

He plans to pursue a psychology degree with a focus in sports.


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