Have seen a few posts that we are in for a long rebuild because the condition Steve Prohm has left this program.
With the new transfer rules, I think ISU can rebuild in 2-3 years. Be a .500 Big 12 team in year 2 and an NCAA Tournament team in year 3. Hopefully, we could be an NCAA Tournament team in year 2, but that would require no mistakes in recruiting. It going to take adding talented, character players in the transfer market.
IMO there are 4 key players the new coach needs to keep for the rebuild: Hunter, Nunn, Hinson and Foster.
There are 3 guys that I struggle with their role in getting ISU back to respectable: Bolton, Walker and Dubar.
- Bolton is a solid offensive player, but a liability on defense. He a ball dominant offensive player, which I don't know meshes with a program that wants to build around players like Hunter and Foster over the long term.
- With Dubar, I see glimpses of a nice role player. But just haven't seen enough shooting ability to be a Big 12 level wing player.
- Walker is another guy that shows glimpses of being a Big 12 level player. But he can also be a turnover machine and not the purest jump shooter. Can he develop into a solid Big 12 combo guard?
Then there is a group of players who would add depth to a competitive Big12 team in 2021/22 but longer term they don't get ISU back to an NCAA Tournament in year 2 or 3 because they will be seniors next season: Conditt, Johnson and Harris. I like each of those guys as bench players who if they play well, can be 20mpg guys off the bench. But if they don't make an impact when coming in, maybe they play 5-10mpg. I just haven't seen enough consistency from those 3 for them to be starters.
That leaves 2 player who seem overmatched at the Big 12 level: Jackson and Blackwell.