Barry Wethington, 82'

Oil and gas energy executive; President & Founder of SYN-TER Consulting, LLC

August 2024

More than four decades ago, Barry Wethington made the decision to attend Henderson County Junior College, now Trinity Valley Community College, for an opportunity to play for legendary basketball coach Leon Spencer.

The 1980 graduate of Trinity High School in Euless fulfilled that goal and received so much more in his two years on the Athens campus. He also established the foundation for what became a life as a successful, world-wide businessman.

“I look back fondly at my time at HCJC,” Wethington said. “The professors I had, friends I made and the things I experienced prepared me for the future.”

Wethington highlighted his relationship with Mike Peek, who he said was a mentor and lifelong friend.

A future that included attending and graduating from the University of Texas with a bachelor’s degree in geology and a master’s degree in Energy and Mineral Resource. His time in Austin also resulted in meeting Kerri Bjork, who became Mrs. Wethington and the mother of their three children – Natalie (37), Nathan (35) and Niles (33).

When Wethington arrived on campus, he quickly saw Spencer had assembled a team loaded with talent, but he said they were not ready to be great yet. That was to come.

The Cardinals went 21-12 Wethington’s freshman season. The next year, they were almost unbeatable.

“You could see the talent level was there,” Wethington said. “We did alright that first year, but we gelled going into the next season and became something special.”

Wethington went through a physical transformation between seasons. His first season as a Cardinal, he tipped the scales with his 6-4 frame at 185. By the time the 1981-82 season rolled around, he weighed 235.

Stan Cloudy arrived on campus the same year as Wethington. The 2008 Cardinal Hall of Fame inductee said Wethington was a key element in the best season in school history. The Cardinals went 33-3 and finished third at the national tournament in Hutchinson, Kan.

“Barry was the enforcer,” Cloudy said. “He was a big, solid rock, but a gentle giant, always kind but gritty on the court. I remember the little jump hook shot he had.”

The Cardinals advanced to the Final Four, where their hopes for a national championship were dashed with a heartbreaking 68-66 loss to Miami-Dade, a loss Wethington says still hurts and is hard to talk about.

The biggest lesson Wethington learned playing two years for Spencer?

“Not to lose a big game or else you will have the dreaded midnight practice,” a smiling Wethington kidded.

“I think the biggest lesson was to be tough and never give up,” he said, adding, you are going to make mistakes and to learn from them and go forward. This applied to basketball but more importantly to life.”

Though Wethington left HCJC without the national title he and his Cardinal teammates sought, he said he left with organizational and leadership skills that became the cornerstone of a long and successful career after completing his education at Texas.

Wethington became an accomplished oil and gas energy executive. He has over 25 years of global exploration, appraisal and development experience, working for BP Exploration across seven different countries managing upstream developments, government and partner relations and business developments in general manager and vice president roles.

He also spent six years as a senior consulting advisor to Saudi Aramco, where he advised on in-country asset management and played a key role in creating and progressing their newly formed international gas business. Wethington was also responsible for business development in North America and Africa, advising senior executives.

After spending 30-plus years in the oil and gas industry, 27 of which were overseas, Wethington retired in December of 2020. He then started an advisory firm and is an active board member for an energy funding platform.

“One thing about the industry, it continually changes and at present the transition is exciting,” Wethington said. “The rise of clean energy is needed, as is the ability of the traditional business models to operate in a more environmentally-friendly manner.

“The oil and gas industry will figure out how to do this. It always has.”

Now with six grandchildren, Wethington and his wife split time between their Smith Mountain Lake home in Virginia and a home in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Though he has traveled the world and experienced many professional successes and personal blessings, he said he will forever remember his time in Athens at “Hic-Jic” and the role the college played in making it all possible.

“Leadership is about understanding people,” Wethington said. “I learned that at HCJC and had the honor of meeting a diverse group of people and interacting with them.

“It was a special place and time for me.” 

Article by: Benny Rogers, TVCC Sports Information Officer