IOWA STATE vs. WAYNE STATE

[Jeremy]

IOWA STATE vs. WAYNE STATE
Media Relations
Nov. 6, 2006 • 7 p.m. • Hilton Coliseum (14,092)

Radio: Cyclone Radio Network/Learfield: John Walters (pxp) and Eric Heft (color)
Television: None
Webcast: View the free webcast at www.cyclones.com

Gameday Quick Facts

Iowa State finishes off its exhibition slate on Monday with a 7 p.m. battle vs. Wayne State in Hilton Coliseum...the Cyclones were triumphant in their first preseason test by defeating EA Sports, 58-57 on Friday...ISU opens its regular season next weekend by playing host to the American Family Insurance BTI Cyclone Challenge, Nov. 10-12...ISU will be without the services of Jessan Gray and Mike Taylor against Wayne State...Gray is recovering from a wrist injury and Taylor has been suspended indefinitely for academic reasons...their status after the exhibition game is day-to-day.

Wayne State-Iowa State Connections

Wayne State, a Division II school in Wayne, Neb., is a former stop for a number of current Cyclone staff members...ISU head coach Greg McDermott got his first head coaching job with the Wildcats in 1994...he took a team that went 7-21 the year before and turned them into a D-II power...McDermott led the Wildcats to four consecutive 20-win seasons and two-straight NCAA Division II appearances before leaving to North Dakota State...McDermott was inducted into the Wayne State Hall of Fame on Oct. 7...Cyclone graduate manager Eric Henderson is a Wayne State graduate...he was a member of McDermott’s NCAA Tournament teams in 1999 and 2000...Henderson averaged 11.7 points and 11.0 rebounds as a senior to help lead the Wildcats to the NCAA D-II Sweet Sixteen in 2000...Wayne State athletics director Eric Schoh earned his bachelor’s (1991) and master’s (1995) degree from Iowa State.

Cyclone Update

Iowa State was successful in Iowa State head coach Greg McDermott’s exhibition debut, defeating EA Sports, 58-57 Friday night...even though the game does not officially count, it was the first time McDermott tasted victory in Hilton Coliseum...he was 0-2 as a player and 0-3 as a coach, all while at Northern Iowa...Rahshon Clark was the hero for the Cyclones, drilling the game-winning 3-pointer with :15 remaining in the game...ISU then came up with a big defensive stop to secure the victory...plenty of new faces saw action for the first time for the Cyclones...true freshman Dodie Dunson got the starting nod at the two-guard spot, scoring 14 points...another freshman, Wesley Johnson, tallied 10 points and eight boards in his first start...forward Jiri Hubalek came off the bench to score 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor and Clark finished the game with 11 points and a game-high nine boards, grabbing eight in the first half...traits of McDermott’s coaching success were displayed in the first exhibition...the Cyclones valued the basketball, committing just 11 turnovers, and were competitive on the boards, allowing just seven offensive caroms by EA Sports...the Cyclones shot just 38.6 percent from the field, but were able to overcome their poor shooting by forcing 18 turnovers...Clark and Johnson showcased their outstanding athleticism by grabbing nine and eight rebounds, respectively...Clark had four offensive caroms and Johnson tallied three boards on the offensive end.

Scouting Wayne State

Wayne State returns three starters from last year’s team that finished 8-17 overall and 6-8 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate...WSC’s top returner is Dallas Hodges...Hodges is a senior guard from Cedar Rapids, Iowa...Hodges, who prepped at Washington High School, averaged 13.2 ppg and hit 41.7 percent of his 3-pointers (45-108 3FG) en route to second-team all-league honors in 2005-06...Hodges ranked in the top-10 in three NSIC statistical categories: 3-point percentage (6th, .417), assists (10th, 2.75) and free-throw percentage (10th, .764)...Hodges was also second on the team in rebounding last season at 4.0 rpg...Hodges is joined in the backcourt with 5-11 junior Bryce Caldwell, who started 24 games a year ago...Caldwell, a native of Davenport, was the second-leading scorer on the team at 11.2 ppg and was the Wildcats’ top outside threat, hitting 66 treys...another Iowa native, Matt Rathje, is WSC’s other returning starter...the 6-8 Center from Watkins, Iowa (Benton Community), Rathje averaged 8.4 points and 3.9 rebounds last year...the Wildcats averaged 7.9 3-pointers made per game last year...Wayne State is coached by Rico Burkett, who enters his seventh season as head coach with a 69-96 career mark...Burkett is a native of Des Moines, prepping at Des Moines North High School...Burkett’s ties with the Iowa State staff go back to the early 1990s...Burkett starred at North Dakota from 1989-91, where ISU head coach Greg McDermott was an assistant at the time...he joined McDermott on the UND staff from 1991-94 and followed him to Wayne State to become an assistant on McDermott’s first staff (1994-95)...Burkett then went to Stetson University as an assistant for former ISU assistant coach Randy Brown from 1995-97...ISU assistant coach Jeff Rutter was also on staff at Stetson with Burkett for one season...Burkett then went back to Wayne State to be a part of McDermott’s staff once again from 1997-2000...Wayne State qualified for two-straight NCAA Tournament’s in 1999 and 2000 when current Cyclone graduate manager Eric Henderson was a member of the team...Burkett succeeded McDermott as head coach at WSC when McDermott took over the North Dakota State program...McDermott has a 2-0 record vs. Wayne State, defeating his former team while at UNI...ISU has never faced Wayne State.

Iowa State Team Quick Facts

• Iowa State has just four returning scholarship players from last season.

• ISU head coach Greg McDermott is the first native Iowan to coach the Cyclone men’s basketball team since Clayton Sutherland (1948-54)...McDermott is from Cascade; Sutherland was from Nashua.

• Head coach Greg McDermott will play all three of his former schools where he was a head coach in his first season with the Cyclones (Wayne State, 1995-00, Nov. 6; North Dakota St., 2001, Dec. 31; UNI, 2002-06, Nov. 29).

• Junior Jiri Hubalek will miss the first six games of the season due to a NCAA rules violation...his first game where he is eligible to play will be McDermott’s homecoming to Northern Iowa (Nov. 29).

• Mike Taylor broke Rahshon Clark’s school-record for step vertical leap with a jump of 39 1/2 inches...Clark had the previous record at 37 1/2 inches.

• Wesley Johnson broke Will Blalock’s school-record for standing vertical leap at 34 inches...Blalock’s record was at 33 1/2 inches...Johnson also had a 41-inch step vertical leap to top Taylor’s record.

• ISU head coach Greg McDermott is in his first season with the Cyclones, but he is already the seventh-longest tenured coach in the league...of the six new coaches in the league (Mike Anderson, Missouri; Bob Huggins, Kansas State; Doc Sadler, Nebraska; Jeff Capel, Oklahoma; Sean Sutton, Oklahoma State; Greg McDermott, Iowa State), McDermott was the first to be hired.

• ESPN.com picked Hilton Coliseum as the "Hot Arena" in the Big 12...coaches in the league noted that, "regardless of talent, the Cyclones have a home court like no other."

• ISU junior college transfers Corey McIntosh and Mike Taylor have witnessed a ton of success in their collegiate playing career...McIntosh tallied a 59-9 record in his two seasons in JC ball, while Taylor recorded a 62-8 mark in his two seasons at Chipola JC...the pair posted a combined 121-17 record in their two years in junior college.

McDermott Among Top-50 Winningest Active Coaches

Iowa State head coach Greg McDermott has the 41st-best winning percentages among active NCAA coaches...McDermott is 221-127 in 12 seasons as a head coach for a 63.5 percent winning percentage...Gonzaga’s Mark Few heads the list at 82.1 percent (188-41).

Iowa State In Exhibitions

Iowa State has a 36-4 all-time record in exhibitions dating back to the 1983-84 season when they defeated Brandon, a Canadian school, 81-45...ISU’s four losses in exhibition action came in 1994, 1996, 1997 and 2005.

[crash_zone]

Jeremy - could you change the game day countdown from football to basketball? I really don't want to know when the next football game is - but am looking forward to each basketball game.

[Jeremy]

I have it on basketball, I just didn't do it for the exhibition games. The game in the countdown clock is the first official game, against UC-Riverside on Friday night:)

[crash_zone]

lol. thanks - and sorry I didn't notice (Saw UC and just assumed Colorado -> football).

[Wesley]

PREDICTION: Wayne State 52, Iowa State 68.

[cgwarrior33]

"• Mike Taylor broke Rahshon Clark’s school-record for step vertical leap with a jump of 39 1/2 inches...Clark had the previous record at 37 1/2 inches.

• Wesley Johnson broke Will Blalock’s school-record for standing vertical leap at 34 inches...Blalock’s record was at 33 1/2 inches...Johnson also had a 41-inch step vertical leap to top Taylor’s record."

Thats just rediculous. I am glad we picked up Wesley Johnson. I think he was the diamond in the rough of last year's recruiting class. Also, a PG with a 40 inch verticle makes me sick to my stomach. Atleast he is on our team.

[Al_4_State]

is there a link to the espn.com article calling Hilton the Big 12 "hot arena"?

[cstrunk]

Originally Posted by Al_4_State

is there a link to the espn.com article calling Hilton the Big 12 "hot arena"?

Yes there is, it's around here somewhere. Let's not disappoint and put more fans in the stands!!

[cycloneworld]

Is Wayne Morgan coaching?

He must have had a rough summer beating all those high profile coaching jobs off with a stick.

[bostinelosd]

Lets let Wayne Morgan jokes go. He has taken enough grief. We are happy with Greg and thats all that matters. I feel bad for Morgan. He just wasnt a good fit and shouldnt be ripped for it.

[cycloneworld]

Originally Posted by bostinelosd

Lets let Wayne Morgan jokes go. He has taken enough grief. We are happy with Greg and thats all that matters. I feel bad for Morgan. He just wasnt a good fit and shouldnt be ripped for it.

But it's okay to make fun of LE or McCarney? Wayne Morgan was a bad coach who walked away with $1.5 million of Iowa State University's money to sit on his a$$ for 2 years...I think he can be the brunt of a few jokes.

[bostinelosd]

No i dont think its ok to make fun of them. We supported them when they were/are coaches. They had some issues and they were removed with public humiliation in some way or another. I just think thats enough. Thats fine if you dont agree. i said what i needed to say, you wont hear another rebuttle about it.

[CyinCo]

interesting to see how many ties ISU and Wayne State College have with each other.

[BryceC]

Let's face it, Larry's exit was one for the ages. I'll be joking about that until the day I die.

[ISUFan22]

Originally Posted by BryceC

Let's face it, Larry's exit was one for the ages. I'll be joking about that until the day I die.

It's impossible not to. It's not like it was coaching or anything that did him in.

He made that bed for himself - agree or disagree with his firing - no one else is to blame except Larry.