Elite national prospect to visit South Carolina basketball program this weekend

South Carolina basketball will be getting a visit from one of the top young recruits in the nation this weekend as elite national prospect Martay Barnes will be on campus on Saturday, according to a report from Recruits Zone. He will be joined on his visit by several prospects including class of 2025 Gamecock commitment Eli Ellis, a 4-star guard and his younger brother, Isaac Ellis, a guard who currently is unranked in the class of 2026.

Barnes, who is rated as a top-15 national prospect in the class of 2027 by both ESPN and Rivals (On3 and 247 Sports have not rated the 2027 class yet), is an athletic guard from Melbourne, Florida. Playing for Holy Trinity Episcopal School, he is rated as a shooting guard but plays both perimeter positions.

Listed at 6'2" and 170 pounds, Barnes plays bigger than his size thanks to a plus-wingspan and an aggressive style.

On offense, Barnes is a hard-nosed driver who can attack from either side of the court. He also plays with his head up on those drives, logging a fair number of assists on film in classic drive-and-kick situations. He is also a comfortable shooter who can take and make outside shots from a few feet behind the 3-point line.

Defensively, Barnes excels at jumping into passing lanes, and he has the fastbreak on his mind as soon as he intercepts or tips a lazy pass. He also holds up well as an on-ball defender on the perimeter.

As a player in the 2027 cycle, Barnes is a sophomore in high school and still has plenty of time to develop physically and improve his skills as a player. The Gamecocks have three players committed in the class of 2025 (4-star guard Eli Ellis, 4-star forward EJ Walker, and 3-star forward Hayden Assemian), but they have no players pledged yet in the '26 or '27 recruiting classes. Barnes is one of the first out-of-state high school sophomores who has popped up on the South Carolina basketball radar so far.

You can watch some of his film here.