Chris Beard Lands Commitments from Pair of Highly-Touted High Schoolers, Cameron Barnes and Rashaud Marshall

OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard woke up Monday ready to play Jeopardy. He called on the category of “High-Upside High School Bigs” and sure enough it was a Daily Double. The Rebels landed a commitment and a re-commitment from a pair of 2023 forwards in Cameron Barnes and Rashaud Marshall.

The newly hired Rebels’ coach has been quite busy assembling a staff and constructing a roster since taking over on March 13. With the two commitments Monday, Beard now has a healthy mix of returnees from the Kermit Davis era, incoming transfers, and high school commits.

Cameron Barnes

Barnes was the first to pledge his commitment to the Rebels on Monday morning. The forward was on campus for a visit on April 26th. In a twitter post, Barnes stated his commitment with the phrase “Hotty Toddy!!! Let’s work!” while tagging Ole Miss, Chris Beard, Duncanville High and Team Trae Young.

Hotty Toddy!! Let’s work! @OleMissMBB @CoachBeard @DuncanvilleBB @teamtraeyoungmb pic.twitter.com/238zA4Awhb

— Cameron Barnes (@CamEBarnes) May 1, 2023

A 6-10 forward, Barnes spent his prep career at prestigious Duncanville High School in the suburbs of Dallas. He was rated as a top-150 player in the nation and a top-20 player in the state of Texas. He chose Ole Miss over the likes of Oklahoma, Baylor, SMU, TCU and Kansas, all of which he had previously visited.

The Duncanville program ranked third in the SCNext Top 25 Boys Basketball Rankings and finished this past season 29-1. Playing alongside Barnes was top-five recruit Ron Holland, and Arizona signee KJ Lewis. Last year’s team was named national champions by MaxPreps and featured likely first round NBA draft pick Anthony Black.

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Cameron Barnes Scouting Report

With Barnes, the key is going to be projection. Taking a look at Duncanville games, you see Barnes can play to a role and understands what he needs to do to win games. He played alongside several high profile players and enjoyed playing against some of the best players and teams in the nation.

For a big, Barnes has one of the cleaner shots and really good touch. He didn’t spend a lot of time out on the perimeter but showed he can step out and cleanly hit a jumper from the perimeter. There is a realistic avenue for him to be a stretch big in the collegiate game. He spent a lot of time in the dunkers spot, finishing dump offs or putting back tip-ins.

Barnes has a really good ability to make some acrobatic finishes on put backs. He’s got an impressive touch that was shown on some tougher finishes through contact and on hooks when being pushed out. He’s going to have to get a little bigger to absorb more contact as he got pushed out of position on some attempts.

6'10 Cameron Barnes had day today! 18 points @CamEBarnes @boogclay @DuncanvilleBB @AnalyticalCoach
full game : https://t.co/M441ZYBnSK pic.twitter.com/rS9JHD9JEc

— Theovisuals (@theovisuals9) December 21, 2022

Barnes has really good passing instincts for a big. He displays good vision in the halfcourt and can use his long frame to get off passes. He also showed some nice touch passes out in transition. Barnes is skilled enough to be able to take a dribble or two to get the transition game going. He’s a solid rebounder for his size and knows how to elevate and high point for rebounds. He did a good job defensively of sealing players and maintaining position.

Defensively, Barnes has capabilities to really step out on the perimeter. He has all the athletic ability to be a high energy forward who can keep up with smaller players. I rarely do comps because of the way they can be misinterpreted, but watching Barnes’ defensive game gave me shades of a Nic Claxton-lite during his time at UGA. This mostly came from watching how Barnes could step out and if someone were to attack on him, he could stay with a handler and recover enough to still affect a shot. There is still work to be done at becoming a better rim protector and shot blocker.

Overall, Barnes brings a very unique game with him as a guy who shows “big-guard” level touch and can bring some defensive versatility to the perimeter. A solid rebounder, Barnes can benefit from the tutelage of Chris Beard and some time in the strength room at Ole Miss.

Rashaud Marshall – Third Time is the Charm

Three may turn out to be a lucky number. Not too long after the Barnes’ commitment Monday morning, Rashaud Marshall, took to social media to re-pledge to Ole Miss. A top-115 player in the high school ranks, Marshall is a 6-9 center from Blytheville, Arkansas.

This is Marshall’s third time committing to Ole Miss. Initially, he was a signee for Kermit Davis. Once the decision to move on from Kermit was made, Marshall de-committed from the Rebels. Shortly after Chris Beard was hired, the new head coach made a trip to Blytheville to see Marshall where he re-committed to Ole Miss in March.

Family @CoachBeard 🔥🔥🔥 @OleMissMBB pic.twitter.com/xe117Uj4JI

— Rashaud Marshall (@Marshal1Rashaud) March 13, 2023

However, on the 27th of April, Marshall de-committed from Ole Miss asking for a release from his NLI. But, on Monday, he made the decision to re-commit.

The announcement was made on Instagram by Marshall, himself. The caption stated “I’M BACK,” with a graphic of him wearing an Ole Miss uniform alongside a photoshop of Chris Beard in The Pavilion that said committed.

The 6-foot-9, 215-lb Center figures to be a solid presence for Ole Miss. He joins a front court that now features Jaemyn Brakefield, Western Kentucky transfer Jamarion Sharp, and now Cameron Barnes.

Marshall led Blytheville to the 4A State title game in Arkansas this past season. He earned the 2022-2023 MaxPreps Award for being the top basketball player in the state after leading his team this season to a 34-2 record. During a three-game run in the state tournament, Marshall averaged 21.3 points, 13.3 rebounds and 4.4 blocks.