NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State head men's basketball coach Ryan Pedon has announced his first transfer addition for the 2024-25 season, as former North Dakota State standout Boden Skunberg has signed to become a member of the Redbirds. He comes to ISU with one season of eligibility remaining.
"We are really excited about the addition of Boden Skunberg," said Pedon. "Having played against him this past season we were very familiar with his game and had great admiration from afar. We believe he is an elite competitor that will bring us a mixture of size, skill, and an ability to shoot the basketball."
Last season Skunberg led the Bison in scoring, averaging 14.1 points per game while also leading the team with 168 rebounds, while his 66 assists were second-most on the squad. He made 41 percent of his shots during the year (154-of-377), 34 percent from long range (49-of-144), and 79 percent from the charity stripe (79-of-100).
The 6-5 guard earned All-Summit League Honorable Mention honors in 2022-23 and 2023-24. He has scored 1,142 career points through his first four seasons. He has played in 114 career games with 71 career starts, including 30 in 2023-24 and 28 in 2022-23.
He had 24 games in 2023-24 where he scored in double-figures, and six games of 20+ points, including scoring a season-high 25 in the opener at Western Michigan on November 6 and equaling that total 19 days later at Grand Canyon on November 25. He had two double-doubles on the season with 20 points and 10 rebounds against Oral Roberts and 14 points and 11 rebounds at South Dakota State. Skunberg had 16 games with multiple three-point makes, including a stretch of eight consecutive games with at least two makes, and four straight games with three three-point makes.
As a junior in 2022-23, the Jamestown, North Dakota, native, averaged 15.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, along with 49 assists. He made 45 percent of his field goal tries during the year, while also making 58-of-147 (39.5%) of his shots from the field, and 86.3 percent (88-of-102) from the charity stripe. He had 27 games of double-digit points and seven of 20+ points as a junior, and he scored a career-high 30 points on February 11 against Denver, as he made 6-of-10 three-point shots. His career-high three-point game came on January 14 at Omaha, where he made 7-of-10 shots from long range. He had two double-doubles as a junior, the first with 20 points and 10 rebounds at Portland on December 5, and the second with 16 points and 12 rebounds against St. Thomas.
He had six double-figure scoring games as a sophomore, including a season-high 14 points at home against North Dakota, as he averaged 5.9 points per game. During his freshman season he played in 19 games with one start.
Skunberg was the North Dakota Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior in 2019-20 and was a two-time First Team All-State selection. He averaged 28 points and 11 rebounds during his senior year and holds the Jamestown school records in career points (1,732) and rebounds (622). As a junior in 2018-19 he averaged 25 points, six rebounds, and four assists per game, earning All-Conference and All-State honors, helping Jamestown to an undefeated state championship.
He is the first transfer to join the Redbirds for the 2024-25 season and joins 2023-24 All-State incoming freshmen Cade Norris and Jack Daugherty as newcomers to the squad next season.
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