Michigan signee Isaiah Barnes had to wait a long time to start his season, not seeing the court until February. His team is already gearing up for playoffs, but he's in wait-and-see status after injuring his knee over the weekend.

Barnes had been outstanding in his first handful of games when the state of Illinois finally allowed games to begin, but he suffered a minor setback Saturday. He was averaging 18.6 points, eight rebounds and three assists a game before going down with a knee injury on a fast break in a 56-47 loss to Evanston March 13.

Simeon coach Robert Smith told the Chicago Sun-Times he expected Barnes to be okay, though there was no official word as of March 15.

Simeon’s season was shorter than most in Chicago due to COVID restrictions, and it took some time for it to click, the Sun-Times reported.

“A big, 6-7 multidimensional player, Barnes has shown in spurts why he’s headed to play for the Big Ten champs next year,” they wrote.

Barnes put up 18 points and 10 rebounds in a 57-51 overtime win over Bogan March 6 and notched 24 points and nine rebounds in a 59-51 victory over Flossmoor March 9.

“Barnes started high school at Romeoville and played at Oak Park the past two years. He’s always flashed high-level potential but was inconsistent,” the Sun-Times reported after the game. “That’s not the case anymore.”

“I’m finally able to play on a team where I can showcase my skills every game,” Barnes added. “The last few teams I wasn’t always put in the best situations, but [at Simeon] they care for me and they want to see us be great. So, I’m doing whatever it takes to help them win and bringing it every game.”

The high-flying Barnes opened a March 12 game with St. Patrick in the Chipotle Clash of Champions with a steal and a thunderous dunk on his way to 16 points and six rebounds in a 57-38 victory.

“We’ve started clicking as a team,” Barnes said. “We had a couple close games early that shouldn’t have been. Today, we dominated as we should.”

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