Barron Silsby has a new home in Maryville.
The 6-foot-1 guard out of Perry High School (Gilbert, Ariz.) has committed to Northwest Missouri State, locking in with one of the most decorated programs in Division II basketball. The Bearcats — owners of multiple national titles and one of the gold-standard cultures in the MIAA — get a battle-tested floor general who already knows what playing for trophies feels like.
This isn't a kid stepping into the unknown. Silsby is walking into a winning program with the resume of a winner.
The Perry Pedigree
Before Maryville, before the recruiting circuit, Silsby was running point for the most dominant high school program in Arizona. The Perry Pumas won three straight Open Division state titles with him on the floor, capping his senior season in 2024 by knocking off Millennium 71-67 for the three-peat. He famously snuck behind the defense for a back-cut layup to give Perry a 67-63 lead late — exactly the kind of read-the-game moment that defined his prep career.
Oh — and his running mate at Perry? Just a guy named Koa Peat.
Peat — a five-star, top-10 national recruit who would go on to commit to Arizona and is now a projected 2026 NBA Draft pick — was the supernova. Silsby was the steady hand around him. Their Perry teams torched opponents at the Les Schwab Invitational and Hoophall West, with Silsby dropping 20+ in showcase wins and pouring in 6-of-8 from three in one of his signature games. He left Perry as a 4.0+ student and one of the elite shooters in the state, with the kind of unlimited range that translates at every level.
When you've shared a backcourt with that kind of talent and held your own, you're not flinching at the MIAA.
What He Brings to Northwest
Silsby fits the Northwest Missouri State blueprint cleanly: high IQ, ultra-competitive, plays inside the system, and shoots the absolute lights out. The Bearcats have built their dynasty on guards who can space the floor, take care of the rock, and execute at championship speed in March. Silsby checks all three boxes.
He's a system point guard with NBA-prospect-tested experience, a hardware-stacked high school resume, and the shot-making to swing a possession. That's a value-add bench piece on day one and a potential rotation problem for the rest of the league within a season.
The MIAA is the deepest league in Division II. The Bearcats just got deeper.
