Dominick Barlow’s ‘unique’ journey: From a stint with St. Joe’s Prep to the NBA with the Spurs

If you told Dominick Barlow when he was a freshman at St. Joseph’s Prep that he would be playing in the NBA by age 20, he wouldn’t have believed it.

That’s what the North Jersey native set his sights on. But getting there entailed challenges and risk, like learning from the bench while dealing with an injury at the Prep or forgoing a college career to sign with Overtime Elite, a league for players ages 16-20 based in Atlanta.

Those opportunities prepared him for the chance to play for San Antonio, Barlow said Monday before the Sixers defeated his Spurs, 133-123, at the Wells Fargo Center.

“It’s super important to me,” Barlow, a 6-foot-9 forward, said of his journey to the NBA. “My journey is a little unique because there’s no reference point of following guys. I had to basically figure a lot of stuff out — I had a lot of people around me, but I had to do a lot of stuff on my own.”

Barlow signed a two-way contract with the Spurs in 2022 after going undrafted and became the first Overtime Elite player to make an NBA roster. Last season, he was a dominant force for the G League’s Austin Spurs, averaging 16.1 points and shooting 56.1% from the field with 1.7 blocks in 18 games.

This season, he signed another two-way deal with the Spurs. He started his first game in the NBA on Jan. 13 against the Chicago Bulls, and has played in 19 games this season, averaging 4.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 12.8 minutes. Barlow didn’t suit up against the Sixers on Monday with Zach Collins (ankle) active.

“Respect to my younger self, like if you saw me now just knowing that I made a promise to myself of getting to the NBA and I stuck with it,” Barlow said. “Being able to stay the course while dealing with COVID, going underrecruited, and having to go through all that stuff made me stronger mentally.”

Barlow had a short stint in Philly. He played on the Hawks’ freshman team during the 2017-18 school year until he tore the labrum in his shoulder and was out for the season. It was the first time he sustained a serious injury that kept him away from the court for a long period of time.

It was then he noticed other aspects about playing in the Catholic League that prepared him for the next level, like early-morning practices and watching film. It redefined his outlook of the game.

“It definitely put things into perspective,” Barlow said. “Like you have to make anything you’re doing in your life a priority.”

Entering his sophomore season, Barlow transferred to Dumont High School back home in North Jersey. Between the two-hour drive from the Prep and missing his friends, he was ready for a change after rehabbing from his injury.

As a senior at Dumont, Barlow averaged 27.6 points, 17.0 rebounds, and 3.1 assists, and was named the North Jersey boys’ basketball player of the year. He spent the summer playing on the Nike EYBL circuit for the New York Rens, who competed in the Peach Jam tournament.

He suddenly became a top-100 player in his class, and it led Barlow to consider a postgraduate year.

Instead, Barlow signed with Overtime Elite and averaged 23.5 points and 9.2 rebounds in 40 games in the 2021-22 season. He referred to it as an “impulsive” decision similar to how he felt when deciding to play for the Prep.

But without that experience, Barlow said he wouldn’t be where he is today.

“I probably would have thought I would be a college student right now,” Barlow said. “The NBA is like a dream; it almost doesn’t feel real sometimes. My friends remind me sometimes and put perspective in me — I’m grateful for that.”