Abstract.The barrier distributions for the 20 Ne+ 58,60,61 Ni systems were experimentally determined. In the 58 Ni case one observes a distinct "structure" in the distribution (two peaks) which is partially damped for 60 Ni and completely smoothed out for 61 Ni. It seems that smoothing is caused by non-collective excitations of the target nuclei.It has been demonstrated experimentally in many systems that the fusion barrier between two nuclei does not have a unique value but rather a weighted distribution of heights, D f us . Measurements of barrier distributions are a long-term project of our group. D f us can be determined directly from fusion excitation function measurements [1]. There is also an alternative method: it has been shown both theoretically and experimentally that the rather difficult fusion measurements can be replaced by much simpler quasi-elastic scattering measurements at backwards angles, giving rise to the barrier height distribution D qe . The basic equivalence of these two methods is confirmed by many existing data sets [2,3].Studies of fusion cross-section at sub-barrier energies show that there is a relation between the reaction mechanism and the structure of the interacting nuclei reflected in the shape of the barrier height distribution. The best theoretical description of this observable can be made within the Coupled-Channels (CC) method where the interplay between various reaction channels is taken into account. In some cases in a distribution one observes a significant structure being a fingerprint of the couplings involved [4,5].In our experiments we have focused on the 20 Ne projectile, since this nucleus has extremely large deformation parameters: β 2 = 0.46, β 3 = 0.39, β 4 = 0.27 [6][7][8]