Jim Mashek

ALL-STATE PURPLES RECEIVER CASTS HIS LOT WITH NCAA DIVISION II INDIANAPOLIS

He sat at the first table to the right of the podium, in the auxilary gym of Bowling Green High School, and when it was his time to speak, Trevy Barber kept things short and sweet.

Figures.

There was an overflow crowd at BGHS on Wednesday afternoon, as nine Purples athletes — including five football players — signed their national letters of intent with their respective colleges.

There was standout swimmer Riley Crowe, who is preparing for the KHSAA State Swimming and Diving Championships later this month, before graduation in the spring and an athletic scholarship to the University of Southern Indiana, in Evansville.

“I’m just excited, to go to Lexington with my teammates, to get to swim in a collegiate pool,” Crowe said.

There were three of BGHS baseball coach Nathan Isenberg’s players, guys putting in the extra time, as we speak, before the Purples open the 2026 season about a month from now at Harold J. Stihl Field.

They included left-handed pitcher Jack Cowan, who couldn’t pitch last year after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Cowan signed with Belmont College in Nashville.

They included Purples teammates Landon Gilbert and Matt Mosley, who are on their way to Cleveland State Community College and Rend Lake Community College, two-year institutions that can open all sorts of possibilities for student athletes when they’re willing to put in the work.

They included three BGHS football players who are on their way to Georgetown College, a prestigious university that excels at the NAIA level in picturesque Georgetown, Kentucky, just a 20-minute drive from the University of Kentucky campus in Lexington.

They were offensive tackle Zach Jordan, the KHSAA Class 5A Offensive Lineman of the Year, along with sideline-to-sideline linebacker Montez Trussell and versatile defensive back Dru Jones, who does a little bit of everything for Isenberg’s Purples baseball team, too.

And, just to the right of the podium, there were Trevy Barber — BGHS football coach Mark Spader always gives me a hard time, because I struggle with the pronounciation of his first name — and Malik Coburn, a defensive tackle, who like Barber kept his prepared remarks short and sweet.

“Malik made a lot of offensive linemen look for a call (from the officials), every time he blew up a play,” BGHS assistant coach Jerrett Ingram said.

Meanwhile, Trevy Barber sat with his parents, Tavis and Trianah Barber, behind some red, white and black balloons, and a University of Indianapolis Greyhounds banner, along with his framed Purples jersey and familiar No. 3.

This guy played a major role in getting Bowling Green High School to three consecutive KHSAA Class 5A state championship games, including state titles in 2023 and ’24. He teamed with former BGHS quarterback Deuce Bailey to make the Purples passing game something extraordinary, something to behold when everything was on the line.

Then, on August 23, 2025, two days before my 69th birthday, a handful of us were sitting in the sparkling new press box at WKU’s Houchens-Smith Stadium, when word came from across town that Bowling Green’s Trevy Barber sustained a serious elbow injury in the opening moments of the Purples’ season opener against Owensboro Catholic in the Rafferty’s Bowl at the BGHS Stadium.

“I remember an audible pause, in our headsets,” BGHS offensive coordinator Jordan Leach recalled.

Barber and Bailey were inseparable, during their time with the Purples. Trevy traveled to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in mid-October, during Fall Break, with some BGHS coaches and teammates made the two-hour journey to watch Bailey make his collegiate debut as Missouri State’s starting quarterback against MTSU.

In 2024, Barber finished the season with 79 receptions for 1,327 yards and 22 touchdowns, as the Purples motored to a 13-2 season and the school’s NINTH state championship. The possibilities seemed endless …

And then, the injury.

“I got an offer from Troy University the summer before my junior year,” Barber said. “I’d gone to one of their camps, I’d stayed in contact with their coaches …”

And then, the injury.

There were other potential suitors, of course, even if Trevy Barber is on the undersized side. He runs the 40-yard dash in about 4.4 seconds. He can turn on a dime. In 2023, he caught Deuce Bailey’s sideline pass in the final seconds, before pitching the ball to BGHS teammate Trey Graham for the decisive touchdown, on an improbable ‘hook-and-ladder’ play against archrival South Warren High School.

The Purples would win that game, 39-26, before beating all of their KHSAA Class 5A opponents on their way to a state championship.

“I talk to Deuce all the time,” Barber said. “We’re both just approaching this day by day, putting in the work, trying to stay focused …”

Bailey transferred to Coastal Carolina University, 20 minutes from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, while following former BGHS football standout Ryan Beard from Missouri State to his new business address in South Carolina.

The NCAA Transfer Portal has changed everything, as Trevy Barber acknowledged after signing his national letter of intent with the University of Indianapolis. The Greyhounds compete in the Great Lakes Athletic Conference, with rivals such as the University of Illinois-Springfield, Truman State University and Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri.

Trevy Barber and BGHS teammate Malik Coburn will make the journey together, to Indianapolis, with plenty of opportunities in front of them.

While schools such as Miami (Ohio), Austin Peay State University and Eastern Kentucky, once potential suitors for Barber, might wonder what could have been.

“Trevy’s recruiting path was up and down,” BGHS assistant coach Jordan Leach said. “A lot of kids would have shut it down, after his injury … He really attacked his rehab. He geniunely cares about his teammates …

“He has the talent, he has the attitude, he has the maturity … When he has the ball in his hands, people just stop and watch.”

Barber, for one, can’t wait to get started. But he is competing in track and field, this spring, doing his thing in the 100- and 200-meter dashes.

“I just need the opportunity,” Barber said. “It’s in my hands, now.”

We’ll be watching, Trevy. All the best.