Wes Eikmeier
- Thread starter FiveStarCulture
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My memory is a little sketchy on this, but I seem to recall that Eik also had a bad illness for most of the month of Dec followed by an nagging injury during the conference season. Compounded with needing to add strength to begin with, his contributions last year are probably not a fair predictor of what his game might be like in the next year or two. Just saying that if he is able to contribute, it might not all be related to the level of competition.
Hoiberg was capable of other things. Eik AT BEST would have been a homeless man's version of Lucca.
Eikmeier came in undersized, then shortly into the season got sick and lost about 10-15 pounds. Did he look like he had 15 pounds to lose? He started off the season averaging 12 points, 4 boards, and 2 assists, going 8-15 from three in his first two games. Then, missed the next game of illness, and never fully recovered. Mac really wanted him to stay, but he didn't feel like he could put forth the effort required to be a Big 12 player. That sucks, but that doesn't mean he can't play. I think he will do well at Colorado State, and we definitely miss him this season...
He was also sick similar to SC this year and a freshman. He did have a low release on his shot. However, he could move faster than our present guards. I watched him play terrific defense in the state high school tournament. He would have been fine except he appeared to wanted to be a Top Dog at a smaller place. He did not get title of Mr Basketball Nebraska for nothing. He was as good an addition as some of our other players. We can check up on his progress the next two years. He certainly could shoot threes better than our present lot.
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Originally Posted by CylentButDeadly
Eik is the worst player McD has recruited. It's not even close. There was absolutely no part of his game that translated to the B12 and he never should have been offered.I think that is a little unfair as the kid was a freshman. You could see he had potential for decent ballhandling, above avg scoring and serviceable D. Yes, he had to work on all of those things as well as adding weight and muscle but that would have come in due time. I would have liked to see what he would have been like his Jr/Sr year (similar to Ham) but that is a long time to wait for a project in this day and age.
HE HAD A FREAKING SET SHOT. Seriously, I haven't seen a set shot like that since Stacy Freese. He couldn't handle the ball. He couldn't play a lick of defense. He had the body of Michael Cera. Eik belonged on a B12 roster about as much as Lindsey Lohan belongs in a convent.
I was not a big fan of jake Sullivan, but he came into the league as a undersized set shooter too. Difference is he had a freshman year with a very solid team to hide his slow developing shot so he could work on a quicker delivery in the offseason.
Don't worry, I wasn't a fan of Eik's even before he set foot on campus. I thought it was a mistake to bring him in when he was still in high school. Also, Sullivan was a much better player, shooter and athlete than Eik as a freshman.
A. I trust their judgment of talent a helluva lot more than I trust my own, but they missed the boat on this one and they admitted as much by having the conversation with Eik and mutually agreeing that he would be better off elsewhere.
B. I never though Eik was a good ballplayer, even when he was initially offered in high school. You don't always have to be a coach to know whether somebody is good or not.
A. You're wrong. Mac tried all he could to convince Eik to stay. He obviously felt that Wes could contribute here. It was Wes that decided he couldn't.
B. You don't always have to be, but about 95% of the time, I believe it's the truth...
I think GMAC has Wisconsin in mind as his model program. A team full of guys like Wes, given a redshirt year, then finally playing as juniors and seniors. Add one star to a group of solid players and the team can be great. Asking him to play as a true freshman wasn't the plan.
But Bo Ryan signs a ton of talent compared to Gmac. Ryan kept a five-star, nationally-recruited player like Brian Butch from going out of the state, and also has landed four-stars like Krabbenhoft from South Dakota.
In the same vein, Gmac needs to keep players like HB from leaving.
Last year when Eik decided to leave, McD knew he had Lucca & Scottie at the 2-guard. Eik saw the writing on the wall and McD was okay with it. Any sharade about trying everything to keep Eik is far fetched at best. Eik knew he wasn't good enough to play for ISU and McD knew that he wasn't going to see minutes on this year's team.
Never in person. Just the videos on the recruitment web sites. And before you follow up with the point I know you're going to try and make, yes I realize you can get a different perspective of a player by watching him play in person compared to cropped videos, but I saw a lot things in Eik's games on those videos that I didn't think matched up with our talent needs, and his play last season, regardless of illness, confirmed my doubts about him as a player.
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Go Cyclones - UPDATED: Eikmeier to transfer
"As the season progressed and ankle, back and hand injuries piled on top of persistent illness, Eikmeier began thinking about transferring or at least redshirting his sophomore season. He told McDermott he would be thinking about a change during Iowa State's spring break. Eikmeier said McDermott thought it was a mistake for me to leave,but supported his ultimate decision.
"I probably didn't anticipate that it would happen, no,"Â McDermott said. "Wes went home, talked to his parents and actually told me earlier this week that he'd decided he was going to stay. But as he was putting together his workout plan, looking at what it would take to get his body to that level it needs to be in the Big 12, something changed his mind."
McDermott while he hoped Eikmeier would persevere at ISU, he also understands the transfer rate among college basketball players is on the rise.
I'm never comfortable when someone in my program isn't happy. That's disheartening,"Â McDermott said. But in this day and age, it's becoming increasingly common. I think in Wes' case he feels like a different level would be a better fit."
Doesn't sound to me like Greg wanted him to leave at all...
Eikmeier leaving is a part of a bigger problem where 3 players out of the 2008 class produced nothing for us this year - Eikmeier, Mann and Pomlee. Had any one of those scholarships been used for a better than average B12 player who stayed around, we may have had a better record this year.
Missing on 3 players on one recruiting class leaves a big void in the program.
Missing on 3 players on one recruiting class leaves a big void in the program.
Seriously dude, what's he going to say? "Well, I didn't know he was looking at leaving, but now that he's decided to, thank God."
McD is a classy guy and he's not going to trash a player on the way out. Furthermore, it wouldn't be smart on his part to admit publicly that he just flat out missed on a guy.
Eik isn't with this program anymore and I'm glad. If you honestly think that Eik is the type of guy this programs needs, then I'm glad McD no longer shares those sentiments and has upped the talent level in his recruiting.
Well, it's obviously a difference of opinion. Greg has been seemingly honest with other players that have left the program. From everything I've heard, he believed that Eik could make a difference with this program. I didn't hear the same things from Greg when guys like C Johnson, Mann, and McIntosh left...
Wheres our big bodies like Joe Krabbenhoft, Brian Butch, Greg Stiemsma, Marcus Landry etc...? Wheres our pure shooters like Bohannon, our outstanding wings like alando tucker and our top caliber pg's like Kammron "Chris Rock" Taylor and Trevon Hughes and Devin Harris ? We literally have none of those players....
