6'2, 190 lbs, Mt. San Jacinto(CA) Community College

    Jamaal Tinsley is the most heralded of the new recruits coming in
to ISU this fall.  His outstanding play earned him Co-Player of the 
Year honors in his conference.  He finished ranked very highly by many
recruiting publications, including the #4 position by PrepStars.  He 
has been widely considered the top point guard in the JUCO ranks, 
although his conference affiliations don't allow him to be named to 
the All-American teams.
    Tinsley might be just what the doctor ordered for ISU, who has had
trouble finding a consistent point guard ever since the C.J. Bruton 
debacle.  He knows he will face tough competition at ISU, including 
two top returnees, Michael Nurse and Travis Spivey.  
    Jamaal had an outstanding season last year by averaging 21.5 
points, 10 assists, 5 steals, and 4 rebounds a game.  He was recruited
by several of the big boys, but chose ISU over Syracuse, UNLV, Kansas,
Clemson, and TCU.  ISU coach Steve Barnes says that the reason that 
Jamaal was so appealing was that he has the ability to play several 
different positions, not just point guard.
    Tinsley has a world of potential.  In fact he didn't even play 
high school basketball in his hometown of Brooklyn, NY.  He did 
however play AAU ball with several future collegians, including UNC's
Ed Cota, Colorado's Jaquay Walls, and Syracuse's Allen Griffin.  All 
three have indicated that Tinsley has a chance to be great, and he is
in fact a playground legend in New York for his ball handling skills.
Cota sums it up best with his quote, "'maal's got mad skills".  Here's
to that statement being true!