Marc Barcelo

Inducted Class of 2025

When Marc Barcelo was a standout athlete at Sahuaro High School in the late 1980s, it appeared that if he had a future in sports it would be golf or basketball.
He was almost a scratch golfer by the time he was 16, thanks to spending many summer days playing in the Ricki Rarick program at Randolph Park. He and his brother, Rich, who went on to play on the PGA Tour for three years, were elite.
But when Marc got in high school, his basketball skills were introduced. He scored more than 1,000 points for Hall of Fame coach Dick McConnell, making the all-city team.
Baseball? Barcelo won six games at Sahuaro.
Never say never, right?
His only scholarship offers were from Pima College and Yavapai College. He chose Pima, where he pitched the Aztecs to the championship game of the 1992 NJCAA World Series in Grand Junction, Colorado.
It was then that Arizona State’s legendary coach, Jim Brock, took notice. He offered Barcelo a scholarship and in 1993 Barcelo went 12-4, becoming the Pac-10 pitcher of the year for the No. 3 seed in the College World Series.
During the ‘93 World Series in Omaha, a scout from the Minnesota Twins phoned and told Barcelo they had drafted him No. 33 overall, a first round pick.
“I was a late bloomer,’’ said Barcelo, a 6-foot, 3-inch right hander with a fastball in the 90s. “You just never know.’’
Barcelo climbed to Double-A in the Twins organization in one season, winning 11 games. He was in Triple-Aa year later, destined for the big leagues.
“But I tore up my shoulder in spring training the next year,’’ Barcelo said. “That pretty much ended my baseball career. So I had to reinvent myself when I was 25.’’
Reinvent himself he did.
Barcelo returned to Tucson and got a job at the new Arizona National Golf Club. From there he was hired by one of the top report golf courses in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Ultimately, Barcelo became a pro and instructor at the PGA Tour’s Doral Golf Resort and Spa in Miami, President Donald Trump’s course.
Barcelo stepped away from golf and into real estate a few years later, where he has succeeded the way he did in sports.
That’s quite a journey for the 12-year old who won the 1982 Tucson swimming championship in the 50 yard butterfly when he was a student at Wheeler Elementary.