Will ISU offer Bo Barnes?

By Chris Williams, CycloneFanatic.com Publisher Iowa State’s men’s basketball program will host two official visitors tomorrow afternoon. Andre Clark is a junior college big man. Bo Barnes is a prep school sharpshooter.

Clark stands at 6-foot-9, 225-pounds and hails out of John. A. Logan Community College. According to his profile on Rivals.com, Clark holds offers and has high interest in Iowa State, Mississippi, Penn State and TCU.

Bo Barnes is a completely different story. In recruiting, you always hear about those “under the radar gems.” That’s what Iowa State is hoping Barnes will turn out to be.

Barnes, who stands at 6-foot-4, 195-pounds out of Westwind Prep International in Phoenix, holds all sorts of low to mid-major offers. Iowa State hasn’t pulled the trigger yet but Westwind head coach Bobby Bossman thinks that might change sooner rather than later.

“The last I heard was that they had not offered. If a school is going to pay for a kid to come on campus, I think there is a very good likelihood that an offer will be made,” Bossman said. “He wouldn’t be taking this visit if he didn’t feel like there was a chance of him going there.”

While Barnes’ offer list won’t turn many heads, his highlight videos will. Take a look at the one that I’ve posted above. There is no doubt at all that Barnes is a phenomenal shooter.

“The kid can absolutely fill it up and fill it up from deep. We use a lot of pick and roll with him. He is coming off at 27 and 28 and he’ll jack it up,” Bossman said. “I have more confidence in that kid than I have in any other shooter. The kid can fill it up. He’s just not a spot up shooter either. He’s developed his game into more of a threat off the bounce. He can finish at the rim. His athleticism has gone to new heights this year. He is surprisingly athletic. When you look at him, a white kid with shaggy hair, you think he’s a bum. He can do some things. He can do a lot of things.”

So that is Barnes on offense. What about his defense? Is that what is keeping him from collecting the big time offers?

“I will be honest. He is not the quickest by any means,” Bossman said. “He is a smart basketball player. He plays angles to perfection. He knows when to crowd. He knows when to back off. Defensively, he is one of the best defenders on our team. He’s not a liability, as guys like him usually are.”

Barnes has gathered plenty of attention from BCS schools in the past. In fact, Cincinnati plans to come watch him play later this week. Bossman said that Penn State, Providence and Marquette have all shown serious interest n the past.

“The schools that have come after him have just gone a different way,” Bossman said. “I think that they wanted more of an athlete, rather than a skilled player.”

CycloneFanatic.com will be sure to keep you updated on this developing story.