Cyclone Newcomers Ready To Contribute

kg-cyclone · 06-16-2008, 10:44 AM

AMES, Iowa— The future of the Iowa State men’s basketball program has arrived. Six of seven Cyclone newcomers – Dominique Buckley, Scott Christopherson, Wes Eikmeier, Clinton Mann, L.A. Pomlee and Justin Hamilton – will begin classwork in the second session of summer school today as part of the summer bridge program.

All of the newcomers, excluding junior college transfer Jamie Vanderbeken, who will join his teammates in a couple of weeks, have the opportunity to get an early start to their collegiate experience at Iowa State.

“I am really excited to get going,” Buckley said. “I have met all of the guys and I know we are going to get along real well and we are going to help each other out.”

“I committed after my sophomore year, so I could hardly wait to finally get to Ames,” Eikmeier said. “I can already tell the guys are ready to work and we are ready to fight for some playing time.”

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Spoke with Mann and Eikmeier Friday...Very nice guys. We'll find out if they can play

BryceC · 06-16-2008, 11:11 AM

Buckley apparently pities the foo who tries to defend him.

jberryma · 06-16-2008, 11:12 AM

nice find KG! I posted this in one of the cap city threads but figured I'd post it here as well so sorry if you read it twice;)

One of the things that has really impressed me is that these seem like really nice kids! I think that Mac has gotten a team together that we, ISU fans, can really be proud to get behind. They all seem like very standup and polite individuals. I know that the MBB program has had it's ups and downs lately, but I think that we're going to have a team to really get behind, be proud of and these guys and play a little as well!

Cyball · 06-16-2008, 11:15 AM

Originally Posted by BryceC

Buckley apparently pities the foo who tries to defend him.

LOL....I asked him about that shirt when I saw it. He said it was from his high school senior party....

kg-cyclone · 06-16-2008, 11:16 AM

Don't look to far into this but...the attitude and the way this team talks about their role and how they can help the team is night and day from where it was when Mac first got here.

CyValley · 06-16-2008, 11:32 AM

Originally Posted by kg-cyclone

Don't look to far into this but...the attitude and the way this team talks about their role and how they can help the team is night and day from where it was when Mac first got here.

Hmmmmm . . . interesting.

Maybe this is the difference, then, between scrambling and vetting in the recruiting game. Greg's hired, within days eight players are gone for whatever reasons. Greg and new assistants look like some silly game show contestants, forced to race about hither and yon and pluck this kid and that kid and hope all turns out well (and Wes J was part of this group, too).

Finally, now, Greg and staff can go about program building in the normal way, can take their time scouting and assessing kids for their basketball talent as well as their character qualities. Maybe this is why JP says that he considers the upcoming season, 2008-2009, to be Greg's first in Ames in terms of program development.

Greg has talked, too, about recruiting quality kids who are mentally tough. Clint Mann appears to be an example of this. I'll bet some of the other rookies fit this mold, too, considering the way they played the game in high school and in AAU play.

Just a thought. . . .

kg-cyclone · 06-20-2008, 02:03 PM

Scout.com: Eikmeier Ready To Do Whatever Is Needed

jjisu · 06-20-2008, 02:14 PM

cant wait to see how these guys play ... they have the right attitude imo

kg-cyclone · 06-20-2008, 02:32 PM

I'll let you guys speculate on record for next year, but I just feel like we finally can start taking more than just baby steps...it seemed like we were crawling there for awhile.

AnkenyCy24 · 06-20-2008, 02:33 PM

Originally Posted by CyValley

Hmmmmm . . . interesting.

Maybe this is the difference, then, between scrambling and vetting in the recruiting game. Greg's hired, within days eight players are gone for whatever reasons. Greg and new assistants look like some silly game show contestants, forced to race about hither and yon and pluck this kid and that kid and hope all turns out well (and Wes J was part of this group, too).

Finally, now, Greg and staff can go about program building in the normal way, can take their time scouting and assessing kids for their basketball talent as well as their character qualities. Maybe this is why JP says that he considers the upcoming season, 2008-2009, to be Greg's first in Ames in terms of program development.

Greg has talked, too, about recruiting quality kids who are mentally tough. Clint Mann appears to be an example of this. I'll bet some of the other rookies fit this mold, too, considering the way they played the game in high school and in AAU play.

Just a thought. . . .

I wonder if Greg regrets having gone that route originally. One would have to think that he'd be better off now (or at least not worse off) had he just played with his returning four and walk-ons that first year. Neither of the past two years was much to write home about. I'm guessing he would have rather had a few more fall signees to go along with Brackins and Garrett last year.

Wesley helped us a win some games the past couple of years. And, Dodie, Taylor and CMac, to a lesser extent all helped us win some games a couple of years ago. But, a losing season is a losing season. We could have done that with walk-ons and the players we already had returning. Either way, all of those guys are now removed from the program. As well as most of the spring signees from last season. I'm hoping that we will see less and less spring singings moving forward...

kg-cyclone · 06-20-2008, 02:45 PM

Originally Posted by AnkenyCy24

I wonder if Greg regrets having gone that route originally. One would have to think that he'd be better off now (or at least not worse off) had he just played with his returning four and walk-ons that first year. Neither of the past two years was much to write home about. I'm guessing he would have rather had a few more fall signees to go along with Brackins and Garrett last year.

Wesley helped us a win some games the past couple of years. And, Dodie, Taylor and CMac, to a lesser extent all helped us win some games a couple of years ago. But, a losing season is a losing season. We could have done that with walk-ons and the players we already had returning. Either way, all of those guys are now removed from the program. As well as most of the spring signees from last season. I'm hoping that we will see less and less spring singings moving forward...

The problem was we did not have anybody to put on the floor. I have said it before, very few people realize how bad of shape this program was in. Mac and the staff scrambled to find guys to put out there. No choice.

Many guys who have left including WJ, wanted to run more...running is track or cross country in my opinion. Mac does want to get out in transition more...problem was with our roster, we would have gotten drilled every game if we tried to "run" more in Big 12 play.

jsb · 06-20-2008, 03:25 PM

Originally Posted by kg-cyclone

The problem was we did not have anybody to put on the floor. I have said it before, very few people realize how bad of shape this program was in. Mac and the staff scrambled to find guys to put out there. No choice.

Many guys who have left including WJ, wanted to run more...running is track or cross country in my opinion. Mac does want to get out in transition more...problem was with our roster, we would have gotten drilled every game if we tried to "run" more in Big 12 play.

Wes and anyone else who thought that should have watched the video of the Ohio State game in Greg's first year. We were in that game for probably 75% of it because we played slow down basketball and played smart. They should have also revisited the Texas game this year where we would have won that game if we had not been completely screwed by the refs.

Even these past two years, I haven't seen Greg's style as slow as Floyd's was. We ran when we could. This past year it was hard to run when Wes was hurt, Jiri was hurt, and Rahshon was hurt. Of course, Wes couldn't apply that logic to his decision.

CyValley · 06-20-2008, 03:28 PM

Originally Posted by kg-cyclone

I'll let you guys speculate on record for next year, but I just feel like we finally can start taking more than just baby steps...it seemed like we were crawling there for awhile.

I like the thought. But, seven new guys . . . they might have to "crawl" for awhile. Hope not, but they might. So much to learn, so little time.

But, hey, darn good thing we've got Big 12-experienced guards this time around! At least, they're not babes in the woods like last season, when not one of our backcourt guys had any Div. I experience.

kg-cyclone · 06-20-2008, 03:34 PM

Originally Posted by jsb

Wes and anyone else who thought that should have watched the video of the Ohio State game in Greg's first year. We were in that game for probably 75% of it because we played slow down basketball and played smart. They should have also revisited the Texas game this year where we would have won that game if we had not been completely screwed by the refs.

Even these past two years, I haven't seen Greg's style as slow as Floyd's was. We ran when we could. This past year it was hard to run when Wes was hurt, Jiri was hurt, and Rahshon was hurt. Of course, Wes couldn't apply that logic to his decision.

I agree, with you

If we did "run" against Kansas and by some act of God we were leading by playing to one of their strengths and our weaknesses. What happens when ISU runs out of gas because of our lack of depth? The bottomline, we did what we had to, to give ourselves a "chance" to win.

kg-cyclone · 06-20-2008, 03:41 PM

Originally Posted by CyValley

I like the thought. But, seven new guys . . . they might have to "crawl" for awhile. Hope not, but they might. So much to learn, so little time.

But, hey, darn good thing we've got Big 12-experienced guards this time around! At least, they're not babes in the woods like last season, when not one of our backcourt guys had any Div. I experience.

I know, but for the most part they won't be starting and they will have a chance to see what the defense is doing before they get thrown to the wolves...helps a little.