WEST PLAINS, Mo. – Another recruit has been added to the 2014-15 roster for the Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Basketball team.
He is Ngor Barnaba, a 6-foot, 9-inch, 230-pound forward from John Marshall High School in Rochester, Minn.
“Ngor has a great future ahead of him,” Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Yancey Walker said. “He is very skilled for his size, and he uses his body very well on both ends of the floor. In addition to being very hard to score on, he has a nice touch from 15 feet and from the block.”
Barnaba averaged 11.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.7 blocks and 1.6 steals per game and was a three-time varsity letter winner at John Marshall. He also was a two-time all-conference honoree and helped lead his team to the Minnesota Class AAAA Academic Championship. The team also won an award for having the highest grade point average in the state.
Barnaba said he chose Missouri State-West Plains because of the relationship he developed with Assistant Coach Bryan Bender during the recruiting process and West Plains’ hometown feel, which is similar to Rochester. “The people in the community that I met and the players and staff were all very nice, and I really liked the gym,” he said, referring to the Grizzlies’ home court in the West Plains Civic Center arena. “I’m excited to play in front of everyone in the community.”
Grizzly fans will see “a high energy guy who can score the ball and stretch the floor” in Barnaba next season, he said. “I am an inside/outside player who also can block shots and rebound,” he added. “As a player my goal is to bring it every day and play well, and as part of the team, my goal is to help make it to the national tournament and win a championship.”
“It’s a great thing to see our coaches and players build strong relationships during the recruiting process and then have it culminate with a young man deciding that our program and our institution is what is best for his future,” Walker said.
Barnaba said he would like to thank all of his coaches through the years, including high school coach Kirk Thompson and AAU coaches Ben Davis and Clinton Dixon. Barnaba also thanked all of the college coaches who showed interest in him and recruited him the past two years.
For more information about the Grizzly Basketball team, including complete statistics from the games, visit wp.missouristate.edu/grizzly/bb/.