NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State head men's basketball coach Ryan Pedon has finalized his 2024-25 roster with the addition of former three-star and top-150 ranked recruit, in Ole Miss transfer Cameron Barnes.
"Cameron brings many attributes to our roster that we were in search of," said Pedon. "He is a very talented young player that will bring real length and athleticism to our current roster. Like all of our forwards, he is versatile and can impact the game in a variety of ways. He has played in winning programs throughout his career and is eager to prove himself at the college level. We're excited about his future and the prospects of what he can become as he develops in our program."
Barnes, a 6-9 forward from Duncanville, Texas, spent the 2023-24 season as a redshirt at Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi.
He was a three-star prospect by ESPN, 247sports.com, and Rivals, and was ranked the 147th player in the nation by Rivals, and 173rd by 247Sports composite ranking. He came out of Texas as the 17th-highest recruit in the state, and the 37th-ranked power forward in the country.
While at Duncanville High School, each of his four seasons the Panthers were ranked inside of the top-10 Nationally, including closing as the top-ranked team in the country in 2021-22, second in 2022-23, and sixth in both 2019-20 and 2020-21.
As a senior his team went 28-1, and he averaged 8.6 points, five rebounds and a team-high 1.1 blocks per game. As a junior, the squad won 35 of the 36 games the team played on the court, and he averaged 17.6 minutes, 6.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, and a team-best 1.3 blocks per contest.
During his sophomore season the team went 29-1 and he led the team with 1.3 blocked shots per game while averaging 5.7 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. His freshman season he had 11 blocked shots while scoring 2.2 points with 2.1 rebounds per game as the team went 29-5.
Over his four seasons at Duncanville, the program posted an overall record of 123-8. Among his teammates at Duncanville as a senior, six played Division I basketball or higher last season, including Ron Holland (NBA G League Ignite), KJ Lewis (Arizona), Jackson Prince (Texas), Evan Phelps (Texas A&M Commerce), and Aric Demings (Utah Tech). He also played alongside Anthony Black (Arkansas), C.J. Ford (Northern Arizona), Ashton Hardaway (Memphis), Omari Abor (SMU-football), and Damon Nicholas Jr (Sam Houston) during his time with the Panthers.
He joins guards Boden Skunberg and Landon Wolf, and forward Caden Boser as incoming transfers for the Redbirds in the 2024-25 season. That quartet will be joined by 2023-24 All-State incoming freshmen Cade Norris and Jack Daugherty among the six newcomers to the squad next season.
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