By Chris Williams, CycloneFanatic.com Publisher, 5-24-10
I guess I missed a busy week huh Fanatics? I apologize for getting married and going on a honeymoon.
While I was gone, Fred Hoiberg added two guards to his roster while Paul Rhoads had to kick a potential professional offensive lineman off the team.
I can assure you that over the course of the next few days, I’ll be working feverishly to give you as much information and analysis on these stories as I possibly can. Right now, I’m going to give you my initial thoughts on the basketball additions. I’ll write a blog on the Scott Haugton situation later this week.
I’ll start with Northern Illinois transfer Jake Anderson. I read the thread that Brent Blum started about this last week and it looks like you all have this one covered. This is a win-win situation. It’s a no-brainer. Iowa State gets a proven guard at the division one level and Anderson gets a shot to play in the Big 12. I’m going to try to get in touch with Jake sometime this week so look out for that.
During the last basketball season, we all spent a lot of time discussing how the 2010-11 backcourt was more than likely going to be better than 2009-10’s. With the addition of Anderson, that is now very clear. Fred Hoiberg will now have options at the guard positions. He might not have a plethora of depth, but at least he has some choices to make. As far as the short term goes, I’d consider Anderson an upgrade to Chris Colvin. Diante Garrett will be back for his senior year. The verdict is still out on DeMarcus Phillips but all signs point to him being a very capable Big 12 player. Don’t sleep on Scott Christopherson. We know that when healthy, he’s a Big 12 baller. From the sounds of things, Bubu Palo is light years ahead of where the McDermott staff thought he’d be when he walked on after his bright career at Ames High.
I’m not promising a trip to the NCAA Tournament next season Fanatics. But we all know that college basketball is primarily a guard’s game. Hoiberg is at the very least going to have some options next fall. That is a good thing.
On Chris Babb
Like the Anderson situation, it’s hard to find any negatives about signing a quality Big Ten basketball transfer to your team in mid-May, especially one that shoots 37 percent from 3-point range. Are you excited for 2011 yet?
Like Anderson, I’m going to attempt to talk with Babb this week so I’ll bring you some of his thoughts on what’s going to happen over the course of the next year.
I’ve read a lot of his quotes and watched the video up with him at Cyclones.com and one thing keeps standing out to me about Babb. He constantly brings up Fred Hoiberg’s NBA history. Signing a guy like Chris Babb reassures my thoughts on the Hoiberg hire. With T.J. Otzelberger at his side, Iowa State is going to get basketball players. There is no doubt in my mind that regardless of who the other assistants will be, talent will not be a problem.
Other transfer notes
The grapevine tells me that Iowa State and former Minnesota Gopher Royce White are still very much interested in each other.
White has had his fair share of issues over the past few years. I Googled his name while writing this blog and found this article written by Myron Medcalf of the Minneapolis Star Tribune back on May 11.
Read the article and tell me if you think the gamble is worth it.
I was bummed to see that Steve Alford @ New Mexico snagged Emmanuel Negedu last week. Negedu has that well-documented heart condition. New Mexico cleared him to play and he signed on the dotted line. Negedu is a former Brewster Academy teammate of Craig Brackins.
