By Chris Williams, CycloneFanatic.com Publisher
Greg McDermott has finished hiring his new look coaching staff at Iowa State. Cyclone legend Jeff Grayer was officially hired earlier today and of course, Nick Nurse was yesterday.
There’s been a lot of talk on our forums about what exactly the Grayer hire is.
Some have called it a “PR move.” Some Fanatics love the hire.
Here’s where I am with this thing.
Listen, Jeff Grayer might not have an amazing resume to be a Big 12 assistant. In fact, he doesn’t. But he can do one thing that nobody else on the current staff can.
He can genuinely talk about Hilton Magic. He can discuss the good ole days with the current roster. He brings a sense of history and tradition to the program that has been lacking.
“I am honored and humbled to be provided the opportunity to return to the college program that wooed me to Ames 26 years ago,” Grayer said in an Iowa State release. “As a graduate of Iowa State University, I’m familiar with the program and extremely proud of its history. I’m anxious to get started working with Coach McDermott to help the Cyclones regain national prominence on the basketball court.”
Now forget about that for a minute. We all know that in today’s college basketball world, you have to have good players to win?
Well, Iowa State had players last season. They didn’t play together though and ultimately, they lost. That’s not a shot at anybody. It’s just the truth. It is pretty obvious that chemistry was lacking within that roster.
My point is that Grayer, a man who adores Iowa State University, can at the very least attempt to get today’s roster to play for the name on the front of the jersey and not the back.
That is what excites me about this addition to the staff.
Does Jeff Grayer coming to Iowa State assure a return to prominence? Not at all. But in an offseason that has involved one kick to the junk after another, the last two days have been kind of nice.
I like the look of this new staff. Here’s what you have.
Associate head coach Nick Nurse – Has coached NBA level players before. Nurse has some great European connections and seems to be a very strong X’s and O’s type of guy. Plus, he’s passionate about the state of Iowa, which is always a good thing.
Assistant coach T.J. Otzelberger – Otz is an elite recruiter considering what he has had to work with as far as wins go. Getting Craig Brackins to Ames put Otzelberger on the national map. Stay tuned over the next few weeks to see what Otzelberger and the rest of this staff comes up with.
Assistant coach Jeff Grayer – Read everything that I just wrote above.
For more on the Jeff Grayer hire, CLICK HERE.
You can discuss the Jeff Grayer hire with other Cyclone Fanatics by CLICKING HERE.
CF on KXNO
I will be filling in for Matt Perrault and Ken Miller today from 5-7 on 1460 KXNO. Matt will be on live from the draft in New York from 4-5. Iowa prep guru Josh Loeffelholtz will be my co-host today. Reggie Stephens will join us at 5:05 today. Mike Brandtner will be on the air with us at 6:05. We’ll also talk some St. Louis Cardinals baseball and we plan on breaking down what the Vikings will do tonight.
I’ll also be filling in for the boys next week on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. On Monday, ABC 5’s Dave Zawilinski will be my co-host. WHO Channel 13’s Chris Hassel will join me on Tuesday and Wednesday.
I’ll try to get those Stephens and Brandtner interviews up on CF later on tonight. I can’t make any promises but just a thought.
