Prospect Spotlight: Keontae Barnes (2021)
The west side of Michigan is rich and deep with basketball talent right now. Keontae Barnes is one of the skilled players from that part of the state. He’s in the class of 2021 and attends Orchard View High School. Barnes is a…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingThe west side of Michigan is rich and deep with basketball talent right now. Keontae Barnes is one of the skilled players from that part of the state. He’s in the class of 2021 and attends Orchard View High School. Barnes is a 6’0″ shooting guard that averaged 22ppg, 6rpg, 4spg, and 3apg. He plays grassroots basketball with the Grand Rapids Storm.
Barnes is an impressive basketball player. He’s a natural scorer that can get points whenever his team needs them. He’s a big time player that wants the ball in key moments. Barnes is an energy player that takes no plays off and is always willing to hit the floor for a lose ball. He’s a strong perimeter defender as well. Barnes takes pride in his leadership. He likes to be the kind of player that teammates can go to both on and off the court.
Barnes is always looking to improve and gain experience. He’s currently working on his ball handling, changing speeds, and free throw shooting. Barnes is a gym rat that puts his all into the game, so improvement is inevitable. His top moment in basketball was in the district championship game last season. Orchard View hadn’t won a district title in 24 years. Barnes came out hot in the first half and had 19 points and finished with 28, leading his team to a win. He’s looking forward to playing in Brawl For The Ball with GR Storm and playing in fall league with his high school team.
Keontae Barnes is just beginning the recruiting process. He has a lot to offer a program at the nect level. College coaches will love his scorers mentality and his leadership. Barnes’ ability to drive and dish and his constant movement without the ball will be valuable to any team. He’s continuously making the defense work and pumping his teammates up with positive reinforcement. Barnes greatly apprecates the work that his high school coach, Coach Nick Bronsema does putting his name and film out there for college coaches to see.
Barnes is a goal driven athlete. He wants to get better every single day. “I work on my game so much it’s crazy. I have to go D1 so I push harder and harder everyday to get better because I know there’s a million kids trying to take the spot that I deserve,” said Barnes. He wants to play at a high level in college and dreams of making it to the NBA. “I feel that no dream r goal is too big. It’s just gonna take a lot of hard work,” he said. Barnes is looking forward to college and hopes to become a judge.
If a college coach hears him speak and reads the passion in his words, they’ll want to see more of him.
“My motivation comes from my uncle and auntie, Lamond Alston and Veneeta Pipkins. Always on me about basketball. I literally can’t sit and watch tv for 5 minutes without one of them saying something like why aren’t you working on your dribbling or you can be doing this or this right now. So that’s where some of it comes from. Really the one thing that I have in my head all the time is my little sister. I wanna make it out for them. We’ve been though a lot at young ages and I don’t see her that much because she stays in Atlanta Georgia. But she is the reason I work so hard. She’s a big spark to why I push myself and work so hard on and off the court. This is not just for me, it’s for my family and her too. I don’t want my uncle and auntie to have to wake up every morning at 5am for work and somedays they’re tired and exhausted but they still go. So I know if they can do it, I can do it. It’s all just in your head sometimes, just have to be strong minded enough to push through and go after what you want in life. Nothing is free and I understand that completely so I’m going to work for it.”
– Keontae Barnes