In the latest edition of News That Probably Won’t Matter In the Long Run, Iowa State guard Chris Babb will miss the final exhibition game and the Cyclones’ first two regular season contests after coach Fred Hoiberg suspended him on Thursday. Big news, right? We’re just not sure how Iowa State will manage to fend off powerhouses Southern University and Alabama A&M without its shooting guard (although we should mention Southern is in fact a preseason SWAC favorite). At this point, we know very little about the situation other than the official tweet from Iowa State’s men’s basketball program. We’ll never know what the mysterious “violation of team rules” was, nor will we know how exactly Hoiberg will treat Babb during practice for the next few weeks. We do know he won’t suit up until the third game of the regular season against Campbell. Most importantly, he’ll be back in time to provide his top-notch defensive ability during Iowa State’s showdown with Cincinnati on November 23, as well as his team’s match-up with BYU the following week.
In the meantime, though, Hoiberg will have to find a way to replace Babb’s minutes. Remember, this team already lost backup point guard Bubu Palo earlier this fall after a sexual abuse charge, so Babb’s absence means more pressure on sharpshooting senior Tyrus McGee and Hoiberg’s wealth of freshmen guards. Korie Lucious may be all set to start at point guard, but other than him, there are question marks.
No harm, no foul for Babb, though. Babb will miss a few games, learn his lesson and make his grand return just in time for the meat of the Cyclones’ non-conference schedule. It’s probably not the best sign that a senior leader and important figure for this team got suspended before the regular season even began, but this sort of thing happens all across the country. Babb, who started all 34 games a year ago after transferring from Penn State, certainly isn’t the first guy to get in a little minor trouble.