NCAA Basketball: 10 best players from state of North Dakota of last decade

9. Justin McCloud – Illinois State

After his high school years, McCloud continued his basketball career at Bismarck State College, starring at the junior college level. A 6’4 guard from Bottineau, he put up points in a hurry, emerging as a very talented guard. In 2014, he transferred to Illinois State, spending his final two seasons of eligibility in the MVC with the Redbirds.

At Illinois State, McCloud wasn’t the same kind of star scorer that he was back in Bismarck, contributing more as a reserve for the Redbirds. He averaged 3.5 points per game across his two seasons as a bench player at Illinois State. He scored a career-high 18 points in a win over a non-D1 team as a junior, while helping lead the Redbirds to the MVC title game and an NIT bid. Used primarily for his long-distance shooting, he added a couple of double-digit scoring games in his senior year, while starting to get more minutes towards the back end of his career.

McCloud was a role player who saw decent minutes near the end of his career, contributing on a pair of talented and successful Illinois State squads. While McCloud certainly wasn’t the most important piece on either of those teams, he still played his role and played it decently, hitting 35% of his 3-pointers. Considering the current state of the Redbirds program, Illinois State would gladly return to the days when McCloud was on the team.