Hoiberg Looks Ahead To 2010-11

The 2010-11 version of the Iowa State men's basketball team may not generate much excitement among college basketball experts, and that's to be expected. It's hard to tag immediate success on a team when it returns just two players with significant minutes and loses 76.5 percent of its scoring from a 15-17 team a year ago.

However, in this crazy world of college hoops we live in, there is excitement and hope running through the Cyclone camp, and it all came about in a 48-hour period. In late April ISU fans were gearing toward Greg McDermott's fifth season at the helm when he unexpectedly took the Creighton job less than two days after it had opened.

Acting just as swiftly as McDermott, ISU Athletics Director Jamie Pollard made an immediate splash by announcing that Cyclone legend Fred “The Mayor” Hoiberg would be the Cyclones' 19th head coach in school history just a day later. ISU fans everywhere began rejoicing.

Cyclone Nation needed no introduction to Hoiberg. The Ames native, who was nicknamed “The Mayor” for his overwhelming popularity, is arguably the most revered Cyclone of all time. He finished his ISU career as the school's third-best all-time scorer (1,993 points), was an All-American on the court and in the classroom, has his jersey hanging in the rafters of Hilton Coliseum and is a member of ISU's All-Century hoops team and the school's hall of fame.

He continued his enormous success on the professional level where he played in the NBA for 10 years before a heart ailment derailed his career. In his final season in the NBA in 2004-05, Hoiberg led the league in 3-point percentage as a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Timberwolves organization wasted little time seeing Hoiberg's potential in the front office, placing him as an Assistant General Manager within the franchise. His swift rise culminated with a promotion to Vice President of Operations with the Timberwolves in 2009-10.

Pollard knew the risks involved in hiring a coach without collegiate experience. He was sold, however, on Hoiberg's passion for the university and the basketball intelligence he cultivated playing for some of the greatest coaches/names in basketball history (Larry Brown, Larry Bird, Flip Saunders). Pollard was also impressed with his work in a NBA front office, where he developed invaluable experience evaluating talent, the lifeline of all college programs.

Many critics also say Hoiberg is taking a considerable chance overseeing a program that has not had a winning season since 2006. With only a handful of players returning from a second-tier Big 12 team, why risk the possibility of tarnishing a legacy? Those thoughts never crossed Hoiberg's mind.

“It's a feeling of great excitement,” Hoiberg said about his newly appointed position. “It is my dream job and I have been passionate about Cyclone athletics ever since I can remember. Having a chance to come back here after being a ball boy and playing in front of these passionate and great fans, and now having a chance to coach in front of them, is a dream come true.”

There was work to do when he got hired and Hoiberg knew it. Retaining the incoming recruits to establish some sort of foundation was priority No. 1. He accomplished that goal by securing assistant coach T.J. Otzelberger and promoting him to Associate Head Coach. Otzelberger, who was McDermott's primary recruiter at ISU, was able to keep the recruiting class in tact.

Hoiberg also stressed at his introductory press conference the importance of surrounding himself with experienced, knowledgeable, top-level assistants. He immediately raised eyebrows when he convinced Bobby Lutz, a winner of 399 games and five-time NCAA Tournament recipient in 12 years as a head coach at Charlotte, to be his right-hand man on the bench. Lutz will be a valuable resource as Hoiberg navigates through his first season as a coach.

“In talking to people who have been around this business for a long time the one thing all of them told me was that I had to surround myself with the right people,” Hoiberg said. “The NBA is a very close-knit community. We are out scouting games with the same people on a nightly basis and a lot of those scouts in the NBA are former college coaches, so I have been picking their brains. Pretty much to a man after bringing up Bobby Lutz's name they said, ?if you can get Bobby Lutz, you have to get him.' The short amount of time I have known him, I can already tell that he will have an impact on my early coaching career with X's and O's, recruiting and everything. I can't think of a better person to help me through these first few years than Bobby.”

Changing the Cyclones' style of play was also a top priority. ISU was considered more of grind-it-out team the last four seasons and Hoiberg wants to see the Cyclones get out and run more often. Hoiberg wishes to utilize spacing and timing into his offense to help get the frenzied Hilton Coliseum crowd on its feet.

“I want to play up tempo and I think we have a good class of freshmen who can play that way,” Hoiberg added. “They are athletic, they are long and the style of play I think they will thrive in is getting up and down the floor. You just can't say that you're going to run, you have to practice it and drill it. Are we going to play up tempo all the time? Probably not. There are going to be some games where we are going to have to grind it out in the half court. For the most part, I am confident that these guys can do that and those are the kind of kids we are recruiting now.”

With its experience in the backcourt, there is also an opportunity for the Cyclones to improve their pace on the defensive end.

“We will press, we will trap, we will get out in passing lanes and try to deny the ball,” said Hoiberg. “Coach (Tim) Floyd's (former ISU head coach) biggest thing when I played for him was getting back and not letting a team beat you in transition when you missed a shot. When we make a shot, we are going to try and press and trap, but we aren't going to be able to do that against everybody. There are a lot of teams that you can't get out of their offense by just trapping in the backcourt. I am still learning what this team is all about and I am going to play to my personnel, but that is eventually the kind of team I would like to have.”

The Backcourt

As stated earlier, with two returning starters at guard in Diante Garrett (6-4, 190, Sr.) and Scott Christopherson (6-3, 200, Jr.), ISU will have its most experience in the backcourt.

Garrett, a senior from Milwaukee, Wis., will enter his third season as the Cyclone point-man, starting a team-best 64 consecutive games the last two seasons. Garrett not only brings experience, but also the ability to become one of the best playmakers in the Big 12.

“Diante is going to have a big year for us,” Hoiberg said. “He is a three-year guy who I think will thrive in an up-tempo offense with the correct spacing. I think he is a guy who can live in the paint and make plays either for himself or other people. He is always in my office wanting to learn and I think he is ready for a leadership role and we are going to lean on him.”

Garrett averaged 9.2 points and 5.1 assists, ranking third in the Big 12 and 38th nationally in dimes, in 2009-10. He already ranks eighth on ISU's career assist chart (416) and 18th-best all-time on the school's steal list (98). He is the active Big 12 leader in double-digit assist games with six.

Christopherson was a key player for the Cyclones in the second half of the 2009-10 campaign, starting the last 15 games and averaging 7.9 ppg. Christopherson, a junior from LaCrosse, Wis., who transferred from Marquette, is an outstanding shooter who also has the ability to drive to the hoop. He was ISU's best shooter from the foul line (33-39 FT; 84.6%) and connected on 42.9 percent of his shots from downtown (45-105 3FG), the ninth-best single-season tally in school history. His ability to knock down outside shots will help him see plenty of playing time in 2010-11.

“Scott is in the gym two times a day in a full lather,” Hoiberg said. “I told our freshmen, if you guys want to look up to someone when it comes to getting in here to work, look at Scott.”

Two newcomers with valuable experience will help bolster the Cyclone backcourt in Darion “Jake” Anderson (6-2, 205, Sr.) and DeMarcus Phillips (6-3, 195, Jr.).

Anderson comes to ISU after starting three years at Northern Illinois where he amassed 1,152 points, the 18th-best total in school history. A native of Chicago, Ill., Anderson redshirted his first season at NIU and will have one year of eligibility with the Cyclones pending an NCAA appeal. Anderson was the first freshman at NIU since 1996 to lead the team in scoring (12.2 ppg) in 2008 to help him earn Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year honors. He was a second-team All-Mid-American honoree as a sophomore after averaging 16.9 points. He is also an outstanding rebounder for a guard, averaging 5.5 rpg in his three-year career. His experience will help him make an immediate impact with the team.

“Jake has been great in accepting a leadership role,” Hoiberg said. “Some of the freshmen have come in and said that Jake has been on them to do this and that. You have to have good leadership to be successful and Jake brings that. He has been a three-year starter at a Division I school and he can help us in the backcourt with some ball handling when Diante is not in the game. He can play two guard positions and you need guys who are versatile, and Jake brings that to the team.”

Phillips, who hails from Milwaukee, Wis., also has a chance to see immediate playing time after a successful two-year career at Marshalltown Community College. Phillips is another combo guard who was ranked as the 27th-best player in junior college in the class of 2010. He is a tough competitor who has a knack of getting to the hoop. The 2008 Wisconsin Player of the Year, Phillips averaged 16.0 points and 5.4 rebounds in 2009, helping him earn All-Region XI accolades.

“DeMarcus is a guy who can slash and get to the basket,” said Hoiberg. “He has two years experience playing college basketball and that will help him.”

The Frontcourt

Hoiberg will have to hope for some quick learners in the post, as the Cyclones return only one player in the middle with experience in Jamie Vanderbeken (6-11, 250, Sr.), and he sat out all of last season as a medical redshirt. Gone are All-Big 12 performers Craig Brackins and Marquis Gilstrap to the professional ranks, and contributors Justin Hamilton and LaRon Dendy, who both transferred to other schools.

Four rookies will be thrown into the fire to help Vanderbeken in the middle in Melvin Ejim (6-6, 215, Fr.), Calvin Godfrey (6-8, 240, Fr.), Eric McKnight (6-9, 215, Fr.) and Jordan Railey (6-10, 230, Fr.). All have different skill sets which will be utilized in their freshman seasons.

Hoiberg added a nice piece to the frontcourt puzzle in July when it was announced that Royce White, a 6-8, 250-pound power forward from Minnesota, will transfer to the Cyclones. His eligibility status is still uncertain.

A native of Belleville, Ontario, Vanderbeken played in 10 games last year before numerous injuries forced him to sit out the rest of the year and secure a redshirt. As a junior in 2008-09, Vanderbeken averaged 5.5 points and 3.0 rebounds to help him land on the Kansas City Star's Big 12 All-Newcomer team. Vanderbeken can be a tough matchup because of his outstanding shooting ability, as evident of his career 42.2 percent clip (43-102 3FG) from 3-point range. Hoiberg will definitely try to use Vanderbeken's accuracy from downtown to his advantage.

“It's hard to find a lot of 6-11 guys who can space the floor like Jamie can,” Hoiberg said. “He is going to be a big part of our offense. A guy like Jamie can stand out there and drive big guys away from the basket. I am going to use him in a lot of pick and pop situations. He had some unfortunate injuries last year and he is 100 percent healthy right now.”

ISU's success in the frontcourt could be enhanced immensely if White is declared eligible this season. White was one of the nation's best prep players in the class of 2009, ranking No. 19 in the final Rivals.com 2009 rankings. A native of Minneapolis, Minn., White played in the prestigious Jordan Brand All-Star Classic in 2009 and enrolled at Minnesota last year, but did not compete in any games.

ISU is petitioning the NCAA for a waiver of the transfer rule. If he wins the waiver, he would be cleared to play for the Cyclones this season (2010-11). If not, he would sit out this year and be eligible in 2011-12. Either way, ISU added a player with outstanding basketball ability who will make an immediate impact when he steps on the floor.

“Royce has the complete package to be an impact frontcourt player in the Big 12,” Hoiberg said. “He is a physical presence on the block and he will also challenge defenders with his ability to shoot. I like his presence on the boards and he comes from a winning background. He is a world-class talent.”

The small forward role will likely be occupied by Ejim, an athletic wing who was a member of the nation's best prep school team last year at Brewster Academy (N.H.). Ejim, who is originally from Toronto, Ontario, is a strong defender who averaged 13.1 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.0 steals en route to earning New Hampshire's Gatorade Player of the Year honors last season. He will be called upon to play a variety of positions for the Cyclones in his rookie season.

“Coming from a prep school, you want guys that are winners and he was a big part of that team last year,” Hoiberg said. “You look at him and he certainly passes the eye test. He is long, he is athletic, has a great frame, can really get out and run and he can defend. I am excited about playing him at different positions, and of all the freshman, he may be as ready to play as anyone.”

The interior positions in the post will be occupied by a committee consisting of freshmen Godfrey, McKnight and Railey. Godfrey, at 6-8 and 240 pounds, already has the body to compete. The Robbinsdale, Minn., native was a all-metro performer in the Minneapolis area last year after averaging 18.6 points and 10.7 rebounds.

“Calvin is an animal,” Hoiberg said. “I know people who went to his high school up in Minneapolis and he is the type of guy that if you tell him to go take a shot or get a rebound, he will do it for you. He is another guy who will benefit from our lack of experience in the frontcourt.”

McKnight was a coveted recruit in the late signing period because of his size, length and athleticism. McKnight chose ISU over Indiana, Maryland, Missouri and Georgetown after a successful prep season at Princeton Day. A native of Raleigh, N.C., McKnight is a great jumper who possesses a 7-foot wingspan. He has unlimited potential but will need to improve his strength and weight before he makes an impact. Railey is the biggest post at 6-10, 230 pounds. A native of Beaverton, Ore., Railey averaged 13.9 points and led Oregon large schools 9 (Class 6A) in blocks last season at 4.6 bpg.

“When T.J. (Otzelberger) and I went out and met with a couple of our guys and I saw Eric McKnight, he reminded me of Tracy McGrady,” Hoiberg said. “He has a baby face and he is long and athletic. The big thing for him is that he is really going to have to develop early. He may have to go out and play more than we were expecting his first year. He is another guy who wants to get better and is working on his game all the time.”

Players Mentioned

Craig Brackins

Scott Christopherson

Scott Christopherson

LaRon Dendy

Melvin Ejim

Diante Garrett

Diante Garrett

Marquis Gilstrap

Calvin Godfrey

Justin Hamilton

Eric McKnight

Jordan Railey

Jamie Vanderbeken

Jamie Vanderbeken

Royce White

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