Isaiah Barnes will suit up for his third and final school next college basketball season. The former Michigan reserve signed with Valparaiso last week after two seasons at Tulsa.
He began his career with two years at Michigan under then-head coach Juwan Howard. Barnes, a 6-foot-7 wing, appeared in 20 games off the bench. He received a redshirt for his first season after only appearing in two games. At Tulsa, he played in 57 games with 54 starts.
“I’ve known Isaiah for a while,” Valparaiso coach Roger Powell Jr. said in a statement. “He’s a high-level recruit for us at Valpo and has produced at the college level for two years now.
“He brings athleticism, size and versatility at the wing spot, something we’ve been lacking in recent years. We’re excited to add another Illinois native to our program.”
Barnes, from Chicago, only briefly cracked the rotation at Michigan. In early January of his redshirt freshman season in 2022-23, he played 12 minutes against Maryland and 14 at Michigan State. He scored just three points with no assists in those games.
Given considerable more opportunity at Tulsa, he posted solid numbers. He averaged 9.3 points per game last season, including a season-high 22 early in the season. He scored 20, making four 3s, in a win over Tulane on March 1.
“I’ve known Coach Powell for a while,” Barnes said. “He recruited me when he was at Gonzaga and was in my high school gym a lot, so that connection was already there. It made sense for him to be able to coach me. The first thing I always look at in the recruiting process is the coaching staff. The Valpo staff made me feel like family.”
Valparaiso finished 15-19 overall and 6-14 in the Missouri Valley Conference last season, Powell’s second as head coach. The Beacons — formerly the Crusaders — haven’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2015, under then-coach Bryce Drew, who hit the most famous shot in school history to upset Ole Miss in the NCAA Tournament in 1998. Valparaiso last posted a winning conference record in 2016-17, its first in the Missouri Valley.
Barnes’ older brother Daniel played three seasons at UIC (after transferring from Eastern Michigan), providing the younger Barnes the opportunity to see Valpo in person a few times as a kid.
“I’ve learned a lot from Daniel,” Barnes said. “I’ve watched him play since I was a baby; we’re 13 years apart. I got to see a little bit of him in high school; I was always around in the facilities. I’ve been in the arena at Valpo and seen a lot of his games there.”
Barnes was a four-star recruit ranked No. 117 in the 2021 class per the 247Sports composite. That year, Michigan also brought in Caleb Houstan and Moussa Diabaté, both of whom are in their third year in the NBA; Kobe Bufkin, who’s in his second; Frankie Collins, who will play for his fourth college, Vanderbilt, next season; and Will Tschetter, who will return to Michigan for his redshirt senior season in 2025-26.
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