Bryant Barr never imagined that he would wind up in the Maine Sports Hall of Fame. But then again, his entire journey has been pretty unimaginable.
The Falmouth High School basketball and soccer star went on to play basketball at Davidson College in North Carolina, where he picked up a nickname as the “White Lobster” and became close friends with teammate and future NBA star Steph Curry.
Barr and Curry were part of a Cinderella run in the NCAA tournament for the Wildcats, and have had an even longer run as business partners.
Barr is a founding partner at Penny Jar Capital, an early stage venture capital fund where Curry is also a special adviser. Before that, Barr was president of Curry’s business SC30 Inc., according to Penny Jar’s website.
“First and foremost, it’s just a special relationship,” Barr said about Curry before being inducted into the Maine Sports Hall of Fame on Sunday in Bangor.
He said they were roommates as freshmen and lived together for three years, were in each other’s weddings, and have sustained their friendship for almost 20 years.
“And then such a cherry on top to get to intertwine the things that I really enjoy doing from a career perspective,” Barr added about their combined efforts in the business world.
That special relationship was also front and center at Sunday’s Hall of Fame event, with Curry sending a pre-recorded video message in support of his longtime friend.
“Bryant Barr, the White Lobster,” Curry said. “Congratulations on becoming the newest member of the Maine Sports Hall of Fame.”
Barr had fun with that, joking that he never would have imagined beating Curry to the hall of fame. Curry is widely expected to be a first-ballot inductee to the Basketball Hall of Fame after his NBA career.
As for that “White Lobster” nickname, Barr still isn’t 100 percent sure who came up with it.
“Still to be determined,” Barr said in Bangor on Sunday. “The first I had ever heard of it was on a Davidson College message board my freshman year. And then when it really became popular, at least on the team and whatnot, was when we were on the tournament run and Gus Johnson said it multiple times on national television on CBS. And then it just took a life of its own.”
That nickname has proved to have staying power, and Barr was even sporting lobster cufflinks for Sunday’s ceremony.
He was humbled by the honor of joining other Maine sports legends in the hall, and couldn’t believe it when he heard from Maine Sports Hall of Fame Executive Director Bill Green.
“I never would have thought in a million years I would have gotten a phone call earlier this year from Bill Green saying that I was going to be in this class,” Barr said. “It’s special.”
He noted that his former Falmouth coach Butch Halligan was inducted last year, and pointed to the many different accomplishments of his fellow inductees.
“Nineteen years ago I was here in Bangor accepting Maine’s Mr. Basketball award, and today I’m very honored to be part of the 2025 Hall of Fame class with so many people alongside me who have left their mark on Maine in their own unique ways,” Barr said during his ceremony speech.
He and his family now live in California, but he was thrilled with the chance to come back to the Pine Tree State.
“Growing up here in Maine, and having it be such a special place to me, it’s pretty awesome,” Barr added.
His athletic prowess wasn’t limited to the court, with Barr helping Falmouth win state titles in both basketball and soccer. But it was his time at Davidson, making it all the way to the Elite Eight in his sophomore season, that stands out to him as the pinnacle of his athletic career.
“That was something that you dream about as a kid,” Barr said, noting how Davidson was able to upset teams like Georgetown and Wisconsin before falling to eventual national champion Kansas.
That experience in college also helped position him well for the future.
“I’ve been able to do some really amazing things because of basketball,” Barr said.
