NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State head men's basketball coach Ryan Pedon has announced the addition of Dalton Banks starting in the 2023-24 season.
"I can't tell you how excited we are with the addition of Dalton Banks," said Pedon. "We have had such a unique perspective having coached against him in our conference. To a man, our staff all jumped on the opportunity to recruit him because of our admiration of how he plays the game. We are so impressed with his leadership, his playmaking ability, and his willingness to consistently impact winning. We have talked all spring about our desire to add smart, tough and skilled players to our roster, and Dalton undoubtedly checks all three boxes. On top of that, Dalton fits the culture that we are building, and the rest of our roster is eager to welcome him into the Redbird Basketball family."
Banks, a 6-2 guard with a 6-5 wingspan, played three seasons at MVC foe Southern Illinois from 2020 until 2023 where he played in 89 games with 15 starts, averaging 20.6 minutes per game over his career. He scored in double-figures 11 times including a career-high 14 times – one in each of his seasons – including in the 2022-23 season-opening win over Little Rock.
An Eau Claire, Wisconsin, native, he had just shy of 70 steals over his three seasons and 167 assists including 70 in 2021-22. He is a 70 percent free throw shooter (82-of-116) over his three seasons and averaged 2.2 rebounds per game. He has 27 games with three or more assists, with a dozen games of multiple steals.
Banks' career-high of seven assists came on February 5, 2022 against Illinois State, while his career-high rebounding game was eight done twice during the 2020-21 season, the first against the Redbirds on February 14, 2021 and the second in the MVC Tournament against Bradley on March 4, 2021.
He joins 2023 Wisconsin co-Mr. Basketball Johnny Kinziger, Illinois class 2A first team All-State honoree Ty Pence, and Division I Ohio special mention All-State honoree Chase Walker as newcomers for the squad next season.
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