Offered a basketball scholarship from NIU out of high school, Jonathan Byrd shunned the Huskies. Two years later, he’s on campus regretting he didn’t come to NIU before his nomadic journey began.

“Jonathan adds more depth to our front line and more size overall,” NIU coach Rob Judson said.

A 6-foot-9, 221-pound post player, Byrd helped Morgan Park High School to a Chicago City Championship his senior year. After assisting his team to a third place finish at the Class AA State Tournament, Byrd was highly sought after by many Division I schools. He turned his back on such schools as Ball State, Illinois State and the Huskies and then-first-year head coach Rob Judson.

NIU was one of Byrd’s final three schools he considered before he committed to Louisiana Lafayette.

“I wanted to get away from home,” said Byrd, who was rated as a top 20 player in the state as a senior. “I should’ve went here initially.”

After experiencing a tumultuous freshman year with the Ragin’ Cajuns, Byrd transferred to Southwest Missouri State-West Planes Junior College. He made the move to a junior college to be eligible to play right away.

“There were some internal problems at Louisiana Lafayette,” said Byrd, who has been on campus since Friday. “There was no senior leadership, and that folded down to the other players.”

When Judson found out that Byrd was on the market again, and with the scholarship open from Jamel Staten’s departure (see box), he began the recruitment — again.

“I felt comfortable with the NIU coaches,” Byrd said. “It was like I already knew them.”

It also helped in Byrd’s case that Judson and his staff were so cordial when Byrd let them know that he committed to Louisiana Lafayette. Byrd said he got hung up on last year by one junior college coach when he found out Byrd was committing to West Planes.

“Judson wished me luck back then, and I remembered that,” Byrd said.

While he wanted to get away from home out of high school, Byrd now looks at being only an hour away from his home in Chicago as a plus. He expects his family to come to most of his games and enjoys seeing people on campus he grew up with.

“Just the other day, I saw my little cousin in Stevenson,” Byrd said. “It’s refreshing and I feel more at home here.”