Jaylen Barford
Jaylen Maurice Barford is an American professional basketball player for Pallacanestro Reggiana of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A. He played college basketball for the Arkansas Razorbacks.
High school career
Barford attended South Side High School in Jackson, Tennessee. As a senior, he led his team to the Class AA State Championship and averaged 22.5 points, three assists and three steals per game. Barford was named the West Tennessee Player of the Year and District 14-AA Player of the Year.College career
Barford began his collegiate career at Motlow State Community College, where he averaged 20.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 2.4 steals per game as a freshman. He was named to the All-TCCAA First Team. As a sophomore, he led all junior college players in scoring with 26.2 points per game. Barford was named to the National [Junior College Athletic Association|NJCAA] Division I Men's Basketball First Team All-America. He was the No. 1 junior college transfer in the 2016 class when he committed to Arkansas.As a junior at Arkansas, Barford averaged 12.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2 assists per game. He considered leaving early to pursue a pro career and declared for the 2017 NBA draft, but ultimately decided to return to Arkansas. On December 30, 2017, Barford notched a career-high 28 points in an overtime win against Tennessee Volunteers in which backcourt mate Daryl Macon also had a career high in points. Barford matched his career high with 28 points in an 88–73 loss to Florida on January 17, 2018. As a senior, he averaged 17.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. At the conclusion of the regular season he was named to the First Team All-SEC. After the season, he was invited to the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament and won MVP after averaging 19.3 points per game.