Ty Barman, a 2029 athlete from Ray (N.D.), debuted as a top-50 prospect in the 2029 cycle per 247sports and a top-20 prospect per Rivals ahead of his sophomore season.
“Not really something you see coming out of North Dakota,” he told Hail Varsity. “So I was blessed, I thought it was awesome.”
Barman earned all-state honors on the football field at wide receiver and safety for Ray as a freshman. He won the gold medal at state in the high jump last spring and earned all-state honors on the basketball court, in addition to competing on the AAU circuit. If his ranking holds, the versatile two-way prospect could be the best prospect to ever come out of North Dakota.
“It’s kind of crazy to hear and be told that,” he said. “I’ve just got to keep working and hopefully that’s how it turns out.”
Recruiting attention has picked up significantly since his rankings debut, but Barman’s offer list remains relatively sparse. He holds just four offers to date, including just two Power Four offers to date in Minnesota and Kansas State. However, programs like Ohio State, Oklahoma, Arizona State and Nebraska are keeping a close eye on the sophomore this season.
On Saturday, Nebraska got the rising versatile prospect to campus for the very first time. It wasn’t an easy trip for the four-star and his family. Following a Friday night win with his Ray team, Barman and his family drove three hours to Bismarck and checked into a hotel at 1 a.m., woke up at 4 to fly to Denver and hopped on a connecting flight to Lincoln. As his recruitment heats up, getting out to some national programs could prove to be a challenge.
“It’s definitely the biggest issue,” he said. “That and finding time for my parents to get off of work since we live so far away. It’s kind of a trip everywhere we’re going.”
Barman already has an agent who is helping the sophomore and his family navigate the fast-paced recruiting process. Communication between Nebraska’s staff and Barman’s representation as of late sparked Saturday’s visit.
“I’ve got an agent that communicates all that stuff so I don’t have to do all that stuff, just focus on football,” he said. “They told me they wanted me to come down for Bowling Green, so I made the trip down.”
Barman got into town well before Saturday night and had plenty of time to explore Lincoln for the first time. The passion of Nebraska’s fan base caught Barman’s attention immediately and he was impressed to see the energy never dropped off.
“We’re rolling down through campus, it’s probably three hours before the game, and everything’s just packed,” he said. “Everyone’s in red and screaming already. The fans were crazy, the atmosphere was just wild. I thought it was really cool. I had a good time.”
Barman hasn’t gotten out to many Power Four programs thus far, just Minnesota, Wisconsin and now Nebraska. Compared to what he’s experienced elsewhere, he enjoyed the “college town” feel he got from the capital of Nebraska.
“It was a bigger city than I’m used to, since we’re from North Dakota, but it didn’t give a Minneapolis feel,” he said. “It didn’t give a giant city feel. It’s all about the college.”
Schools are keeping Barman’s position designation relatively open at this point. He recently heard from doctors that his growth plates are still open and how he continues to grow over the next three years could greatly impact the position he projects to play at the next level. At 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, at this point Barman could play wide receiver, safety or linebacker, but he could also grow into a tight end or EDGE.
“They’ve been keeping it pretty open,” he said of communication with schools thus far. “Kind of just telling me how big I get, how I fill into my body and go from there.”
While at Nebraska, Barman paid close attention to Nebraska’s passing offense. Given the uncertainty surrounding his long-term positional home, Barman admits he doesn’t really know what he’s looking for on game day visits, but he does know he liked what he saw from Anthony Colandrea and Nebraska’s wide receivers.
“I really liked how Nebraska was able to sling it,” he said. “They have some really good receivers and their quarterback’s a stud. I really like the way they used their receivers.”
Barman admittedly didn’t get much time to connect with Nebraska’s coaching staff and left Lincoln without an offer, but coming out of his first visit to Lincoln, he can see himself returning in the future.
“I’d say I’m just taking everything in right now. It can all change, just like that,” he said. “I’d for sure love to get back, but nothing’s set for sure right now.”
