During his college career, Barkley played the center position, despite being shorter than the average center. His height, officially listed as , is stated as in his book, "I May Be Wrong but I Doubt It". He became a member of Auburn's All-Century team and still holds the Auburn record for career field goal percentage with 62.6%. He received numerous awards, including Southeastern Conference (SEC) Player of the Year (1984), three All-SEC selections and one Second Team All-American selection. Later, Barkley was named the SEC Player of the Decade for the 1980s by the "Birmingham Post-Herald".