2014-15 Iowa State Men's Basketball Prospectus

On April 28, 2010, Fred Hoiberg was introduced as the 19th head men's basketball coach in Iowa State University. In the four years prior, ISU had posted a 59-68 record. The Cyclones hadn't reached postseason play, either NCAA or NIT, since 2004-05. It was a proud program that had fallen on hard times.

Enter The Mayor.

The Cyclones exceeded expectations on their way to a .500 record in his first year and since then have reached three-straight NCAA Tournaments. Hoiberg's first four teams posted a 90-47 record, which includes the third-most wins in the Big 12 (74) since 2011-12.

With the increased success, Iowa State has moved from an afterthought to a widely recognized power nationally. The Cyclones spent the final 19 weeks of the 2013-14 season ranked in the Associated Press top-25, rising to as high as No. 8 and finishing the season at No. 9.

The Cyclones finished last season 28-8 overall, winning the Big 12 Tournament and advancing to the Sweet 16 despite losing Georges Niang to a broken foot in a second round win against North Carolina Central. ISU beat a school-record nine ranked teams in 2013-14.

Many wonder what would have been had Niang not stepped on the foot of Hogue midway through the second half against North Carolina Central. The Cyclones went on to beat North Carolina without Niang, then fell to eventual national champion UCONN by just five points at Madison Square Garden.

Hoiberg has successfully found a way to consistently mold his lineup using both transfers, junior college players and high school recruits. While many around the nation point to his success with transfers, Hoiberg's first four-year player, Melvin Ejim, was an All-American and Big 12 Player of the Year in 2013-14.

Under Hoiberg, the Cyclones continue to boast one of the nation's most potent offenses, averaging a Big 12-best 83 points per game, which was also fifth nationally.

But Hoiberg and his coaching staff will be faced with the task of replacing Ejim from the frontcourt and Big 12 Newcomer of the Year DeAndre Kane from the backcourt.

Ejim and Kane combined to average nearly 35 points and more than 15 rebounds per game. While the numbers lost are daunting, Hoiberg is more concerned with replacing their leadership.

“When you lose two players with the overall package like DeAndre and Melvin, it's not just the numbers they put up, but the leadership they provided our young guys and the competitiveness they brought every day,” Hoiberg said. “Those two guys pulled the others together when tough times hit, they were everything you want in your seniors.”

Still, the fifth-year head coach feels like collectively the team is prepared to meet the challenges ahead.

“Someone has to step up and replace what they brought to the table,” Hoiberg said. “I think that as a whole we have an opportunity to do that. I don't think any one guy is going to do it. Georges showed the ability to do that and Monté (Morris) is certainly capable. Naz (Long) is another guy that can draw the team together.”

Long, Morris and Niang are all succesful high schoolers that Hoiberg recruited. He'll mix them with Dustin Hogue, who started all 36 games in his first season in Ames, transfers Jameel McKay, Abdel Nader and Bryce Dejean-Jones in hopes of creating more magic in Ames.

“I think our success with transfers is the culture we have established here,” Hoiberg said. “Guys know that if they come here they are going to have to work if they want to get anything accomplished. Our players put in a tremendous amount of work.”

Every coach hopes to have his team playing its best at the end of the season and Hoiberg's teams consistently do that.

“We've been fortunate to have guys that continue to buy in, battle through tough times,” Hoiberg said. “Last season we started 14-0 and lost three games in a row, but our guys believed in what we were doing. The key is to learn what you aren't doing right in those stretches and to get better. Our guys believe in each other and our system and continue to improve throughout the season.”

The Backcourt

There may not have been a more versatile player in the nation than DeAndre Kane. He spent just one season in Ames but Hilton Coliseum was on triple-double alert every time he stepped on the floor. He was a man among boys.

Kane earned Big 12 Newcomer of the Year honors and was selected as an All-American by six organizations after averaging 17.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 5.9 assists. He was one of just two players nationally to average 17-6-5.

So how will Hoiberg replace Kane's consistency and production?

By committee.

“You simply can't replace DeAndre Kane with one player,” Hoiberg said. “ He's a guy that was in his fifth year of college and he put up numbers that only one other player in the country did. He had a lot of experience so it isn't fair to say you are going to replace that production with one guy. You have to do it by committee and I think we will.”

Still, Hoiberg will lean heavily on sophomore Monté Morris. Morris entered the season as a backup and didn't break into the starting five until February.

The Flint, Michigan native was a big factor in the Cyclones late season success. For a freshman, Morris was uncommonly steady. In just his second start, he played 52 minutes of turnover-free ball as the Cyclones beat Oklahoma State in Stillwater for the first time since 1988.

Morris managed to break the NCAA record with a 4.79 assist-to-turnover ratio. He led the team in steals (46) and averaged 6.8 points and 3.7 assists in his rookie campaign.

“Monté is a flat-out winner,” Hoiberg said. “He will do whatever it takes to win basketball games. He came in and was a little bit wide-eyed, weighing about 160 pounds. I wondered if he could physically handle the rigors of the Big 12, but he showed me right away he wasn't backing down from anybody.”

An underappreciated aspect of Morris' game is his defense. Against UCONN, Morris held Shabazz Napier to 1-of-6 shooting in the second half, keeping the Cyclones in the game. He finished with 12 points against the Huskies and averaged 13.3 points per game in the NCAA Tournament.

“He is a guy that is going to have a big year for us,” Hoiberg says of the 6-2 guard. “He'll have a lot of the ball handling responsibilities that DeAndre did and I think he'll transition seamlessly into that role.”

Hoiberg once again landed one of the nation's top transfers when former UNLV leading scorer Bryce Dejean-Jones pledged to the Cyclones in April. Dejean-Jones becomes the fourth player in three years to transfer to the Cyclones after leading his previous team in scoring (Abdel Nader - Northern Illinois, DeAndre Kane - Marshall, Will Clyburn - Utah).

Dejean-Jones, a 6-6 guard with great bounce, joins the Cyclones after averaging 13.6 points as a junior for the Runnin' Rebels.

“By watching Bryce on film I can tell that he is going to be our best athlete on the perimter,” Hoiberg said. “He can really get up and down the floor and is a high flyer. Bryce possesses a really nice shooting touch as well.”

Dejean-Jones' success will come down to fitting into the system, and Hoiberg believes he is poised to do just that.

“The biggest thing we need to do with Bryce is fit him into what we want to do. From all the conversations I've had with Bryce, he's very willing to buy into what we are trying to do. I'm excited about having him on our team this fall.”

Hoiberg will also be able to lean on a pair of returning guards that gained valuable experience last season in Naz Long and Matt Thomas.

Long, a 6-4 junior guard, showed a propensity to hit clutch shots during his sophomore season. He drilled a three at Oklahoma State that sent the game to a third overtime, then sent the home tilt against the Cowboys to OT with a three at the buzzer. Perhaps his biggest stretch was against North Carolina in the third round of the NCAA tournament when he nailed three trifectas in the final 5:10, including one that tied the game with 50 seconds left.

Long averaged 7.1 points and hit 64 3-pointers at a 40 percent clip last season. In 2014-15, Hoiberg anticipates Long will have the ball in his hands more often.

“Naz had a terrific sophomore season,” Hoiberg said. “He hit a lot of big shots for us, as many as anyone on our team and maybe anybody in the country. I've challenged Naz to get better with his decision making. He's going to be a guy with the ball in his hands. He hit a lot of big shots for us last year, but I think he'll play with the ball in his hands a little more, like he did his freshman year.”

Thomas, a 6-4 guard, returns for his sophomore season more prepared for the rigors of the Big 12. Thomas hit 40 3-pointers and averaged 5.5 points as a freshman.

“The big thing for Matt last season was that he lost his confidence a little bit, especially late in the year,” Hoiberg said. “He did hit some huge shots for us though. He had four in the first half against K-State and another big one against North Carolina. For a freshman, one of the hardest things to do is stick with it for an entire year, not get frustrated. If you asked him, he'd probably say he was disappointed in how he shot the ball, but he made the second-most threes by a freshman in school history. He is working hard this summer. His body looks awesome, his explosiveness is great and his feet are better.”

Hoiberg will have another lengthy guard at his disposal in 6-7 wing Abdel Nader, a transfer from Northern Ilinois. Nader led the Huskies in scoring with 13.1 points in 2012-13.

Nader fits perfectly in Hoiberg's offense, which utilizes mismatches so well.

“I see us using Abdel as a perimter guy and someone that can go inside,” Hoiberg said. “We've had a lot of success with guys that can make plays from the four-spot and I think that is something that Abdel can do. If you put him and Dustin (Hogue) at the three and four spots it gives you a lot of versatility. He is a heck of a talent and a guy that can really put the ball in the basket.”

Hogue, who surprised some with an impressive junior campaign in which he averaged 11.6 points and was second in the Big 12 with 8.4 rebounds per game, will split time between the wing and the post as he did a year ago. The Yonkers, N.Y. native starred with 34 points against UCONN in the Sweet 16 when Iowa State was without Niang, but he was solid all season, shooting 57.3 percent from the field.

“Dustin is a competitior,” Hoiberg said. “I think he hit a bit of a wall in the middle of the season, but he got it back and he was so important in our Big 12 Championship run and in the NCAA Tournament. With what he did against Connecticut, he'll be coming into this season off a great performance.”

Hoiberg's depth on the perimeter includes top-100 high schooler Clayton Custer, who joins Morris as a point guard that has won at a high level in prep ball.

“Clayton is someone that I think was cut from the same cloth as Monté,” Hoiberg said. “He won back-to-back state championships. He makes winning plays and is the type of player you want at your lead guard position. Clayton can make plays for teammates most of the game, but he scores when he has to. He's an unbelievable smart player and he has a great little floater in the lane. Clayton can really shoot it from the outside, he has very good feet and terrific instincts.”

Redshirt sophomore Sherron Dorsey-Walker will also compete for playing time. Dorsey-Walker continues to improve both physically and on the court.

“Sherron continues to do really good work with his body,” Hoiberg said. “He needs to get his confidence where it needs to be. He is the type of player that can really put the ball in the basket. We need guys like that.”

The Frontcourt

While it is Kane's production that needs to be replaced in the backcourt, it will be Ejim's in the frontcourt. Ejim averaged 17.8 points and 8.4 rebounds, while shooting 50.5 percent from the field, 34.6 percent behind the arc and 76.1 percent from the line.

Simply put, Ejim produced one of the best seasons in school history. He was rewarded as the Big 12 Player of the Year and an All-American.

The cupboard is anything but bare, however.

Niang, a 6-7 forward, had an outstanding sophomore season en route to earning All-Big 12 third-team honors. He averaged 16.7 points and was playing as well as anyone in the country when he was injured in the NCAA Tournament. He finished with 24 points against the Eagles, including five after breaking his foot. Niang averaged 20 points in his final four games.

After recovering from the broken foot, Niang trimmed 25 pounds off his playing weight from a year ago. The transformation of his body should allow him to stay on the court and crash the glass, two areas Niang has focused on improving.

“Georges has talked about improving his rebounding,” Hoiberg said. “You lose a guy like Melvin, who led the league in rebounding two years ago and was top-10 two other years, so that is one area that Georges can help us.”

Hoiberg envisions Niang being used much like they did near the end of last season. In the last month of the season, Niang averaged more than 16 field-goal attempts per game as the Cyclones ran more offense through the crafty big man.

“I think how we used Georges at the end of the year is how we'll use him this season,” Hoiberg said. “He ended up averaging nearly 17 points a game, if you put the ball in his hands all season long he has a great chance to be in the All-America conversation.”

Niang possesses a rare ability to take bigger players off the dribble and score on them in the post as well. His court vision and passing ability helped him become the only non-guard in the Big 12 ranked among the league's top-10 assist leaders.

During the summer, Niang participated in the Nike Big Man Skills Academy and the LeBron James Skills Academy.

Hoiberg will get an early holiday gift when 6-9 Marquette transfer Jameel McKay becomes eligible on Dec. 20. McKay, the only two-time All-American at JUCO power Indian Hills Community College, affords Hoiberg a true rim protector, the first of his tenure in Ames.

“When you have a guy like Jameel back there your guards can pressure a little bit more,” Hoiberg said. “You saw that with UCONN and their big man (Amida Brimah). He allowed their guards to really get up and pressure you.”

McKay is capable of running the floor and hitting shots from the outside on the offensive end.

“Jameel can really run the floor and he fits our up-tempo style,” Hoiberg said. “He's the first rim protector that we've had here. He really fits what we want to do and will do anything that is asked of him.”

Another physical presence for Hoiberg will be senior Daniel Edozie. The 6-8 senior saw limited action as a junior, but did make a pair of starts when Niang went down with his injury in the NCAA Tournament.

The Cyclones went the international route to sign their final player for the 2014-15 season.

Hoiberg's professional connections put Greek 7-footer Georgios Tsalmpouris on his radar. Tsalmpouris arrived at Iowa State having just turned 18 in June. He'll provide Hoiberg with another big man that can run the floor.

Players Mentioned

Clayton Custer

Bryce Dejean-Jones

Sherron Dorsey-Walker

Daniel Edozie

Daniel Edozie

Melvin Ejim

Dustin Hogue

Dustin Hogue

DeAndre Kane

Jameel McKay

Jameel McKay

Nazareth Mitrou-Long

Abdel Nader

Abdel Nader

Georges Niang

Georges Niang

Matt Thomas

Matt Thomas

Georgios Tsalmpouris

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