The Big 12 began the season with a couple high profile transfers projected to make big impacts on their respective teams. Oklahoma received word that TaShawn Thomas would be immediately eligible, and he has helped the Sooners round out their starting five after leading former team Houston in points and rebounds last season. Fred Hoiberg snagged another potential gem in Bryce Dejean-Jones, a player who led UNLV in scoring a year ago. Hoiberg was also sitting on Marquette transfer Jameel McKay, a 6’9″ forward who played his first two seasons at Indian Hills Community College before committing to the Golden Eagles in 2012. McKay left Marquette without playing a game, but that didn’t stop Iowa State from being optimistic about the transfer. “He’s going to impact the game the minute he steps on the floor,” Hoiberg told the Ames Tribune in November, “because he can protect the rim and he can run.”

McKay has helped the Cyclones to a 4-1 Big 12 record. (Andrea Melendez/The Register)

After sitting out the first nine games of the season, McKay has made the immediate impact on both ends of the floor that Hoiberg was expecting. Defensively, he is the first true rim-protector that The Mayor has had in Ames. McKay has blocked 12.4 percent of opponents’ shots when he’s been on the floor, a number that would rank in the top 20 nationally if he had the minutes to qualify. Additionally, despite a step up in competition, the Cyclones are also doing a better job of guarding shots at the rim. According to data from hoop-math.com, opponents’ are shooting 5.7 percent worse on those chances in games that McKay has played.  He’s earned the respect of other coaches in the league as well. “I thought he did a good job of protecting the rim,” Bill Self said in the aftermath of the Jayhawks’ defeat last week, as McKay blocked three shots against Kansas.

The big man has also found his way in Hoiberg’s offense, tying a career high with 15 points against Kansas State. Although McKay doesn’t have the range of past Cyclone players, he’s still an important part of the offense because of his speed in transition and ability to play off the pick-and-roll. He showed off his motor against Kansas when, after a Kelly Oubre dunk to bring the Jayhawks within four, McKay beat all of the Jayhawks down the floor to finish a dunk of his own just five seconds later. His pick-and-roll game is also valuable: “It’s a pick your poison type thing. Are they going to take away the roll, are they going to give up a 3-point shot. We’ve got guys that can make you pay if they’re sucked it and take away the lob,” Hoiberg said. By spreading the floor, Hoiberg’s offense gives McKay room to work on the roll as he did against Kansas State.

Jameel McKay is a unique talent, a type of player that Fred Hoiberg hasn’t had at Iowa State before. He allows the Cyclones to take more chances on defense because of his shot-blocking prowess. His motor is useful in transition, and he can already play in the pick and roll, forcing opponents to choose between giving up a layup or an open three-pointer. Neither Thomas nor Dejean-Jones change the game like McKay does; he gives Iowa State something special on both ends of the floor. “When we get him,” teammate Georges Niang said, “it’s really going to be tough to stop us so I really can’t wait to get him in the lineup.” So far, he’s been right.

Chris Stone (136 Posts)

Chris Stone is a contributor to the Big 12 microsite. You can find him on Twitter @cstonehoops.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 24th, 2015 at 8:21 am by Chris Stone and is filed under big 12, microsites. Tagged: feature, fred hoiberg, iowa state, Jameel McKay. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.