CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southern Illinois men’s basketball coach Scott Nagy picked up his fifth signing of the offseason on Thursday with the addition of Davion Sykes – a Texas State transfer with two years of eligibility remaining.
Sykes joins forwards Jaheem Webber and Rolyns Aligbe as well as guards Drew Steffe and Damien Mayo Jr. in Nagy’s initial recruiting class.
“Davion is another player that brings us experience and versatility,” Nagy said. “He can guard almost any position and he can play almost any position offensively because of his great skill set.”
Sykes comes to Southern Illinois after two seasons with Texas State where he appeared in 56 games including 19 starts with the Bobcats. Last season he made a drastic jump in scoring going from 3.5 points to 11.2 points per game while also averaging 6.9 rebounds and over a steal per game.
He posted a season-high 30 points on 10-for-15 shooting against Troy and scored in double-digits in 12 games including a five-game stretch during Sun Belt action. During the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, Sykes scored in double-figures in three of four games while helping Texas State to the championship game where they fell to eventual champions James Madison.
During his freshman season, Sykes saw action in 34 games and averaged 3.5 points and 2.4 rebounds. He made his debut against Washington State where he scored 10 points finishing the season with five games with 10 or more points.
Sykes graduated from Duncanville High School where he was a member of four UIL 6A state championship teams. He was named to the 2022 UIL 6A All-Tournament Team, selected to the 2022 All-Region 6A-2 team, and earned all-district academic honors.
