Charles Barkley college career: Taking a look at Auburn legend's amateur career, records, achievements and more

Charles Barkley is one of basketball's most dominant icons, known for his passionate and physical style of play. This earned him the nicknames Sir Charles and the Round Mound of Rebound. He is one of six players in NBA history to record at least 20,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists.

Barkley spent 16 years in the NBA, playing for the Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns and Houston Rockets. He is more popular these days as an analyst on "Inside the NBA" on TNT.

Before his time in the big league, Barkley spent three years playing for the Auburn Tigers. Here are some highlights from his time playing in the NCAA Division I.

A look at Charles Barkley's college career

Despite being an undersized center, Charles Barkley was an expert in rebounding and shot-blocking. The 6-foot-6, 252-pound Barkley averaged 14.1 points, 9.6 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 1.6 assists while shooting 62.6% from the floor at Auburn.

In 1984, Barkley led Auburn to its first NCAA tournament, averaging a then-career-high 15.1 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.8 blocks. He was named SEC Player of the Year and earned First Team All-SEC, SEC All-Tournament Team and SEC Tournament MVP honors.

Besides taking care of both ends of the court with blocking shots and slam dunking buckets, Charles Barkley was an engaging player who had fun with the crowd. Auburn coach Sonny Smith once said:

"I think Auburn people were starved for somebody to identify with, to cling to or support. He arrived on the scene at the right time. I think he's really a hot item because of his mannerisms more than anything else ... the spectacular way that he scores or rebounds or blocks shots." (via NCAA.com)

Alabama Journal's Darryal Ray assessed Barkley's playing style:

"When push comes to shove, Charles Barkley can keep up with the best of them. He can trade knee-for-knee with Kentucky's 6-foot-11 Melvin Turpin, push-for-push with Vanderbilt's 6-foot-8 Ted Young, and elbow-for-elbow with Tennessee's 6-foot-7 Dale Ellis."

In all three years of his college career, Barkley led the Tigers in average rebounding and total blocked shots. The center owns the record for the most rebounds in an NCAA tournament game in Auburn history (17). The team retired Charles Barkley's jersey in 2001, and he was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.

In 2023, Barkley announced he would be leaving $5 million in his will to Auburn University. Initially, it was earmarked for students with poor economic backgrounds. However, after the Supreme Court of the United States struck down affirmative action programs in education, Barkley changed the criteria to specifically Black students.

"I was talking to my friends and said, ‘I need to make sure Black folks always have a place at Auburn," Barkley said (via BET). "So, I’m gonna change my will and make it exclusive for Black students—all $5 million.’ It’s just for me the right thing to do. I always want to make sure that Auburn’s diverse."

What do you think of Charles Barkley's college career? Let us know in the comment section below.