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Who is the greatest Cyclone of all-time?
- Thread starter ChrisMWilliams
- Start date
Good list, but you're missing a big one in B12 POY and the guy who was here at the START of our best stretch of Cyclone basketball. Melvin Ejim.
Let's not forget that guy.
I think Tinsley is actually underrated in a lot of Cyclone circles these days. Probably the "what have you done for me lately" phenomenon. Winning back to back regular season titles is very impressive. And he was the starting point guard on a good NBA playoff team as a rookie!
That's a pretty random list imo.
We've had a lot of great players the past 30 years. Even our worst period under McD had several NBA guys.
Grayer was the best player we've had since I started watching in the Lynn Nance days. Best scorer I've seen, arguably the best rebounder and defender as well. He could do it all.
Jeff Grayer, Georges Niang, Fred Hoiberg, Don Smith (Zaid Abdul-Aziz)(played '65-68; 1st round, 5th overall pick, 10 yr NBA career), Mote Morris.
My Mt Rushmore + 1
Marcus Fizer and J. Tinsley high Honerable mention (mainly because only 3 and 2 years a Cyclone, other than that, both near top of list).
My Mt Rushmore + 1
Marcus Fizer and J. Tinsley high Honerable mention (mainly because only 3 and 2 years a Cyclone, other than that, both near top of list).
Ha, pretty good list for a young man who was a baby in in 2000. Thumbs up.
I'll add:
50's Gary Thompson
60's Zaid Abdul-Aziz
70's The Dark Decade. Andrew Parker followed by Heft or Ivy?
Somehow I think we are overlooking Ron Fallenchek. Might he have impacted the 70's and 80's?
Exactly! Hercle Ivey that guy could flat out ball! At least that's what my great great grandpa used to say.
Hercle Ivy Left ISU as the leading scorer at the time 1976 and no 3 pt shot.
Orr
Grayer
Stevens
Niang
Fizer
I guess it's a winners/winning teams, popularity & national accolades type of list for ISU Players.
I have been around a long time, and yet for basketball accomplishments, I would have to say Monte Morris. He stayed around for 4 years playing under 2 basketball coaches, contributed constantly, always a good representative of the college, his stats are amazing, his teams always did extremely well, even when maybe by rights they shouldn't have. I love all those other guys, Hornecek, Grayer, Niang, but Morris takes the cake.
Brackins is probably the only "glaring" omission from the McDermott years and I didn't think of him either. I suppose you could make a case for Garrett as well. Both would be Honorable Mention if included. They would have made a much bigger name under better circumstances but unfortunately they played for the worst coach we've had in the last 3+ decades. They played at a time when most of the life had been sucked out of the program so their time is a lot less memorable.
The other of "several" NBA guys McDermott had didn't have big impacts at ISU. Taylor was a good player but getting booted for stealing isn't going to land you on many top 10 lists. Chewy ran Johnson off so he could be an AA elsewhere. Who else am I forgetting?
Good job at least throwing a list out there. It's a lot harder to do that than it is to lob pot shots at it without actually adding names.
Based on this criterion I would still say Thompson. He was an All American in both Basketball and Baseball leading the Cyclones to the College World Series. He was the face of ISU basketball for years on television broadcasts and was a trusted confidant of Iowa State Athletics administration for years helping to vet and land multiple coaches. Gary is a true Cyclone.
The good news is there are so many candidates for whom people can make very good cases.
