The Iowa State men’s basketball program hosted an unofficial visitor over the weekend – a fairly important one at that.
Clayton Custer, a 6-foot point guard that Rivals.com currently ranks as the 98th best player in the class of 2014, wanted to learn more about Iowa State before he gets busy with his junior year of high school. After a long July full of AAU ball and a family vacation to Cape Cod, he did the same in Stillwater with Travis Ford’s Oklahoma State program last week.
“It was a good trip. We had a lot of fun up there," Custer told CycloneFanatic.com on Sunday evening. "We got to spend a lot of time with Coach Hoiberg. We actually spent a lot of time with the whole coaching staff. I was the only recruit there so they didn’t have to focus on anybody else but me so I got the full experience. It was the first time that I’ve gotten to see the campus as well as Hilton Coliseum.”
Custer unofficially visited Iowa State earlier this summer too. Along with Oklahoma State, Custer is also considering Oklahoma and Kansas State from the Big 12 in his recruitment as well as Stanford from the Pac-12. Custer is obviously still young so much interest from other schools could be still to come.
Custer said that former Kansas State head coach Frank Martin and South Carolina has recently cooled on his recruitment.
"South Carolina got a 2014 PG commit so they aren’t really recruiting me that much anymore," said Custer.
Fred Hoiberg and associate head coach T.J. Otzelberger are both playing an important role in Custer’s recruitment for Iowa State. Custer gained a new perspective on the Cyclone coaching staff over the weekend.
“It’s amazing how normal they are. They are just normal guys. They truly care about you as a person. That’s a nice thing to see," said Custer. "What the whole coaching staff had to say about Coach Hoiberg was that he’s the same person every day. You always know what you’re going to get with him. I think that’s really important too.”
Iowa State’s campus left a lasting impression on Custer as well – specifically Hilton Coliseum.
“It looks like a great place," said Custer. "We obviously have Allen Fieldhouse here and I’d say it is quite comparable. They both have the highest attendances in the Big 12. It’s obviously a cool place to play.”
Is Iowa State a "basketball school"? That probably all depends on whom you talk to but Custer said one thing is clear since the Cyclone program began recruiting him.
“It’s nice because you want to go somewhere that cares about basketball. They more than care about basketball in Ames.”
