College Commitment – Joey Banry (2024 North Eugene/Lane)

Joey Banry will be staying at home - for the second time. The first time after a standout career at North Eugene High School, the dynamic point guard chose Lane. Now after two years as a Titan, he'll continue his college career in the same county as he'll be headed to Bushnell.

"Bushnell just made sense for me," Banry said. "Being in Eugene already, I went to a bunch of the games the past few years and always loved the atmosphere and style of play. Once I got in contact with the coaches, I knew they had the same mindset about hoops as me, so committing was made very easy. I love that the school is a tight knit community. Whenever I'm on campus it seems everyone knows everyone which is something I really love. Another thing that made this easy was being friends with some of the guys already on the roster, and learning that they are hungry and ready to win as many games possible, which for me is the most important thing when considering a program."

Banry went into more what the fit on the basketball floor will be for him. "They love to push in transition and score the ball," Banry said. "I like to push and advance the ball as much as I can, but once stopped in the half court I love playing out of a ball screen with shooters around to be able to create, which is exactly what they do, and are bring back plenty of guys that will thrive in that type of system. They also value the 3 ball a lot, which is one of the highlights of my game."

After a freshman season at Lane where he averaged 4.4 points and 2.9 assists, Banry upped those averages to 12.1 points and 3.3 assists per contest, leading the team in three-point percentage at 44 percent. It's this improvement in his game that has him satisfied how his hoops career has progressed.

"I think I've became a way better shooter and hunt threes more now than in high school," Banry said. "In high school especially at the 5A level, there's less true bigs, so a lot of teams switch 1-5. The last two years at lane I faced defenses that made me develop how I read the defense, which has made the game slow down for me in a lot of ways. And becoming a leader at the college level forced me too be more vocal and keep my team accountable."

Our congratulations go out to Banry and his family on his commitment.