By WJBC Staff
NORMAL, Ill. – Saint Louis transfer Milik Yarbrough will continue his education and basketball career at Illinois State, men’s basketball head coach Dan Muller announced Friday. The 6-foot-6, 230-pound forward has signed with the Redbirds and will have two years of eligibility remaining after sitting out during the upcoming 2016-17 season due to NCAA transfer rules.
“Milik will bring a great deal of experience, toughness and skill to our team,” Muller said. “Milik has a natural ability to score the ball and can play multiple positions on the court offensively. His ability to handle the ball at his size makes him very difficult to guard. The year off will allow Milik to focus on continuing to improve his all-around game and get in the best shape of his life. As that happens, the sky is the limit. We are very excited to welcome Milik and his family to our program.”
A Zion, Illinois, native, Yarbrough played in 27 games, with two starts, as a sophomore at Saint Louis in 2015-16. Yarbrough averaged 7.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. He shot 74-for-187 (39.6 percent) from the field, 15-for-42 (35.7 percent) from beyond the arc and 46-for-77 (59.7 percent) at the free throw line. Yarbrough also collected 38 assists, 11 steals and seven blocks during his sophomore campaign.
As a Billiken freshman in 2014-15, Yarbrough was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie team and was one of five freshmen nationally who led his team in both scoring and rebounding. He appeared in all 32 games, with 22 starts, and registered 10 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while dishing out 47 assists, recording 20 steals and registering 12 blocks. Yarbrough led Saint Louis in scoring in nine games and was the Billikens’ leading rebounder on 13 occasions. He shot 129-for-274 (47.1 percent) from the field as a freshman.
Yarbrough was a four-year starter at Zion-Benton Township High School in Zion, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago. He collected more than 2,600 points, making him the all-time leading boy’s basketball scorer in Lake County history. Yarbrough averaged 25.4 points, 8.8 rebounds and 4.7 rebounds as a senior for the Zee-Bees, who posted a 26-4 record.
A News-Gazette All-State First Team selection, Yarbrough also collected All-State Second-Team plaudits from the Associated Press and Chicago Tribune. Yarbrough registered all-conference honors all four years of high school and was a three-time Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) All-State selection.
Yarbrough is the son of former Redbird basketball player Del Yarbrough, a 6-foot-8, 220-pound forward at Illinois State from 1976-80, who ranks No. 26 on the career-scoring list with 1,191 points. Del also ranks No. 6 on the career-field goal percentage list (53.3 percent) and No. 10 on the career-rebounding list (750). He was picked in the ninth round of the 1980 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks.
