Yet another Maine schoolboy basketball player will stay home next year to pursue his Division I collegiate aspirations.

Troy Barnies, a 6-foot-6, 195-pound senior forward at Edward Little High School in Auburn, has made a verbal commitment to join the University of Maine men’s basketball program beginning in the fall of 2007.

“I’d thought about it a lot, and I just wanted to play at a place where I could represent my high school and the state where I’ve lived my whole life,” he said.

Barnies was named the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A South player of the year last winter after averaging 22.6 points and 11.3 rebounds to lead the Red Eddies to a 14-4 regular-season record and a berth in the Eastern Maine Class A preliminary round.

He subsequently was named to the 2006 Bangor Daily News All-Maine third team.

He joins 6-8 center Sean McNally of Gardiner as members of Maine’s high school class of 2007 who already have decided to join coach Ted Woodward’s Maine program next year.

“I think it’s going to be great,” Barnies said. “Coach Woodward has been trying to get Maine kids to stay in the state, and the fact he’s giving Maine kids a chance to show what they can do is great, and I’m happy to be part of it.”

Barnies and McNally will join the likes of former Maine schoolboy stars Jordan Cook of Hampden Academy, Mark Socoby of Bangor and Sean Costigan of Cheverus of Portland from the class of 2006, all of whom are headed to Maine this fall.

“I think you can win with Maine kids,” said Edward Little coach Mike Adams, Maine’s 1990 Mr. Basketball from Mt. Blue High School in Farmington who went on to play at Thomas College in Waterville. “I think what coach Woodward’s doing at Maine to keep the best athletes in state speaks wonders for his commitment to the program in the state.”

Barnies, who is playing quarterback this fall for the EL football team – and passing to his twin brother Travis, a starting tight end – is expected to play small forward on the Maine basketball team.

The son of Stanley and Lorrie Barnies of Auburn played a similar wing position at Edward Little as a freshman and sophomore, but was shifted to the post last winter to fortify the Red Eddies’ inside game.

“He’s a natural perimeter player,” Adams said.

Adams expects Barnies to get physically stronger once he joins the UMaine program and gets involved with a more serious conditioning program. “Once he fills out, by the time he’s a sophomore and junior I expect he’ll be able to make a major contribution up there,” Adams said.

Barnies will be the second Edward Little player in recent years to play for the Black Bears. Jon Wallingford, a guard, walked on to the UMaine program and played as a reserve for three years between 2001 and 2004.