Clyburn Blossoming Into A Star

AMES, Iowa - Americans love underdog stories. Hearing about individuals rising up from obscurity, defying the odds and breaking through makes people feel good.

Will Clyburn, one of the newest members of the Iowa State men's basketball team, can relate to this. As a senior at Romulus High School in Detroit, Mich., the kid with dreams of playing major college basketball was shut out. No scholarship offers, whatsoever. Not even from Division II schools.

To say that Clyburn has "blossomed" is a ridiculous understatement. He's now a Cyclone after being considered one of the most coveted transfers in all of college basketball this past off-season.

Good things come for those who wait.

"Coming out of high school I didn't have any Division I or Division II offers," Clyburn said. "I just kept working hard, and when I got to junior college, my coach and I put in a lot of time. I created a work ethic where I was going to be the best I could be. It took me from there."

Clyburn was skinny and a little shorter as a prep player in the Motor City. "I was only about 6-3 as a junior in high school, so I grew a little bit," said Clyburn.

He was on the same team and in the same class as former Cyclone Dominique Buckley, who was the primary focal point of the offense as a Detroit Free Press Dream Team member.

Clyburn averaged just barely over 10 points per game on a team which went 22-4 and advanced to the state semifinals. His high school coach, Nate Oats, saw raw potential in Clyburn, however. It was suggested Clyburn go the junior college route to improve his game.

"At that time he wasn't able to put it on the floor or rebound like he can now," Oats said. "His ball-handling was a little weak and he would get bumped off the drive."

Oats remembers a despondent Clyburn as a junior when he barely got off the bench.

"He was really struggling in his junior season and there were games he didn't even get into the game," Oats remembered. "He lost all confidence in his game. But I never saw anyone work harder than he did between his junior and senior seasons. You couldn't get him out of the gym. He was there at 6 a.m. and I had a custodian open the gym for him at 8 p.m. He was a big-time gym rat."

Clyburn ended up at Marshalltown Community College where he played under the leadership of head coach Brynjar Brynjarsson. Brynjarsson, who spent two seasons as a graduate assistant at Iowa State from 1999-2001, happened to notice Clyburn when he was recruiting one of his Romulus teammates.

"Will was only about 6-3 and was not a great ball-handler when we were first looking at him," Brynjarsson remembered. "He was playing the four spot at 6'3 and I had kept in touch with him off and on. Coach Oats really talked him up as both a person and a player. We were able to get him to MCC and from day one he really bought into what we were doing. In my opinion he is kind of a self-made player. He figured out what he had to do and how much time he had to put into school and basketball. He just kept getting better and better."

Brynjarsson knew he had untapped talent in Clyburn, but was unsure how well he would develop and mature. He quickly found out he had the work ethic.

"We really thought we had a special player who just had to put it all together," Brynjarsson said. "He never stopped working hard, his confidence grew and his fear of going into the paint disappeared. He was all about winning and we had a great team in which he was kind of the foundation of the whole thing."

Clyburn had solid numbers in his rookie season at MCC, teaming alongside former Cyclone DeMarcus Phillips. However, it was in his sophomore year where he began to shine. Now standing at 6-7 and adding 20 pounds to his frame, Clyburn thrived in Brynjarsson's offense.

He ended his final season at MCC leading the league in both scoring (19.6) and rebounding (8.7) while earning first-team All-ICCAC honors and All-Region XI accolades. His improvement wasn't an accident.

"After my freshman year in junior college I stayed in Marshalltown the whole summer and worked out daily," Clyburn said. "We worked out all the time. When I blew up my sophomore year it wasn't a big surprise to me because I felt like I put the work in for it."

Division I coaches began paying attention this time. Brynjarsson's phone started to ring off the hook with questions about his athletic wing. But it wasn't until Valentine's Day of 2010 when much of the nation took notice of the transformation of Will Clyburn. That was the night Clyburn dropped 54 points on league power Southeastern Community College in a thrilling 111-109 victory for the Tigers.

Clyburn's stat line read like this: 18-26 FG, 16-18 FT, 2-4 3FG, 12 REB, 54 PTS.

"I had no idea he had that many points when the game ended," Brynjarsson recollected. "After the game the media came up to me and asked what I thought of Will's 54 points, and I didn't believe he had that many. We were playing a very good Southeastern team and Will got hot and we just kept feeding him the ball. It is hard to say it was a quiet 54 points, but he just did it so fluidly. He scored his points in the flow of the game and didn't force anything."

Brynjarsson's phone eventually picked up more activity.

"He went on visits to St. Louis and Wichita State and started getting a lot of calls," Brynjarsson said. "He made a name for himself. He was so skilled that he played the four spot for us because of an injury. He really is a two or three at the next level. I am just not sure if enough people saw that yet."

Sorting through all of the offers, Clyburn eventually decided to play basketball at Utah. His dream of playing Division I basketball had come true but even Clyburn didn't know how far his game had developed.

Many junior college transfers struggle with the pace and physicality of Division I basketball in their first season. Clyburn was unsure how much he would contribute in his junior year.

"I had no idea I was going to have that much success at Utah in my first season," Clyburn said. "When I first signed there, my intent was to redshirt. When they decided to not redshirt me I just came out and played my game and I felt real comfortable."

Clyburn felt so comfortable he ended up averaging 17.1 points and 7.8 rebounds while earning NABC All-District 17 honors and Second-Team All-Mountain West accolades in 2010-11. He ranked third in the Mountain West in both scoring and rebounding and also led the team in steals (34) and 3-pointers (62), making 40.3 percent of his shots from beyond the arc.

Brynjarsson was even a little stunned at Clyburn's easy transition.

"I wasn't shocked, but I was surprised by just how high his numbers were," Brynjarsson said. "If you look around in the country and you see the top five scorers in any conference, if you average close to 18 points, you will be right up there. What surprised me the most was how consistent he was every night. He put those numbers up in very tough places to play such as BYU. It's tough to go on the road and put up the same stats that you do at home. For him to be able to do that at Utah, that is a great success story."

His prep coach was also impressed.

"I can't lie to you and say I thought all along Will would turn out where he is today," Oats said. "But I knew how much Will wanted to get better. I saw him play against Bradley last year and he had a double-double at halftime. He just took over the game."

All of Clyburn's numbers were accrued against possibly the toughest Mountain West Conference slate in league history. A total of six MWC schools made postseason play in 2011, including three NCAA Tournament qualifiers (BYU, San Diego State, UNLV). The conference also featured the national player of the year and No. 10 NBA Draft pick Jimmer Fredette (BYU) and Kawhi Leonard (San Diego State), the 15th pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.

"It was a great experience to play against all of those guys," Clyburn said. "It was really fun. I played against a lot of draft picks and it was a great experience."

Clyburn suffered a bruised heel late in his junior year and played only 12 minutes in a loss to UNLV in the final game of the season at the MWC Tournament. Just a week after the UNLV loss, Clyburn received word that his head coach, Jim Boylen, was relieved of his duties. Clyburn felt loyalty to Boylen and decided he wanted to transfer.

So for the third time in four years, Clyburn's recruitment was open, this time at a much grander stage. Half of the schools in the Big 12, Big Ten and ACC showed interest in acquiring Clyburn's abilities. Iowa State was one of the school's on his list.

"When Coach Boylen was fired I kind of had my mind made up I was leaving," Clyburn said. "It was nothing against the school or the players, I just felt like I wanted to be closer to home. I didn't take any other visits and I knew Iowa State was the right place for me."

Clyburn says he enjoys making Ames his home, "It's been great. The team is getting along really well and I really like the coaching staff."

His old coach is happy to have him back in Iowa too.

"He really thought that Fred (Hoiberg) and his staff would give him the best chance at furthering his career after he is done at Iowa State," Brynjarsson said. "I am thrilled that he is at Iowa State. It will be fun to go to games and watch him play."

He's already made quite an impression on his new coach as well.

"Will is a player who has the proven ability to score, rebound and defend at the highest level," said Hoiberg, Iowa State's second-year head man. "We felt Will was one of the best available transfers this year. On top of his basketball ability, Will is a great person who possesses a contagious work ethic."

Even though he will sit out next season as a redshirt, Clyburn will receive plenty of help and guidance from his teammates. Current Cyclones Royce White, Chris Allen, Chris Babb and Anthony Booker were in a similar situation last season as transfers. Clyburn can also lean on Korie Lucious, another highly-touted transfer (Michigan State) who will have to sit out the 2011-12 campaign for the Cyclones.

"It will be important to have Korie around next year," Clyburn said. "Korie and I clicked right away. It's going to go by really fast. We have already been working out together and lifting. We are going to be big supporters of the team next year."

And Iowa State fans will be a big supporter of Will Clyburn in 2012-13.

Players Mentioned

Chris Allen

Chris Allen

Chris Babb

Chris Babb

Anthony Booker

Anthony Booker

Will Clyburn

Korie Lucious

Royce White

Royce White

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