Hoiberg Wasting No Time at Iowa State
Posted by KoryCarpenter on October 20th, 2012Fred Hoiberg grew up in Ames, Iowa, and starred on his high school football and basketball teams. He turned down impressive college offers in both sports to stay home and play basketball for the Cyclones, where he still ranks in the top 10 in nearly every statistical category. He’s the most famous player in Iowa State basketball history, so much that he received a handful of write-in votes in the 1993 Ames mayoral election. He’s been called “The Mayor” ever since.
The Mayor has the Cyclones ready to compete in the Big 12.
I said that so I can say this: For a man as popular as Hoiberg is in Ames, who left a great NBA front office job with the Minnesota Timberwolves to return home to coach his alma mater in 2010, he didn’t have to do things this way. He didn’t have to collect a grab bag of cast-offs and troubled players looking for a second chance. Hoiberg had as long of a leash as any new coach in the country. He could have recruited the exact type of high school recruits he wanted and built for the future. But Hoiberg didn’t settle for that. He quickly assembled an impressive quartet of transfers in 2010, led by NBA first-round pick Royce White. The other three, though — Chris Babb, Anthony Booker, and Chris Allen — all helped guide the Cyclones to a 23-11 record last season as well. “My biggest thing when I got the job was trying to get the talent base where we could compete at the Big 12 level,” Hoiberg said on Wednesday at Big 12 Media Day. “We only had three scholarship players when I took the job. To get those transfers in there to give them a second chance was attractive to them.”
Babb (7.8 PPG, 4.1 RPG last season) and Booker (3.5 PPG, 2.9 RPG) return for their senior seasons. And while former Michigan State guard Chris Allen is gone, fellow former Spartan Korie Luscious (6.5 PPG, 4.1 APG in 2010-11) is eligible to play, as well as Utah transfer Will Clyburn (17.1 PPG, 7.8 RPG in 2010-11). “Chris Babb, who I think is as good a defender as there is in our league, the guy he had trouble with was Will Clyburn, because of his length, skill set, ability to finish in the paint with his athleticism, and he can shoot the ball,” Hoiberg said. “It gets you excited.”
I don’t know how much the immediate resurgence Hoiberg’s transfers brought to Iowa State have helped recruiting, but they haven’t hurt the Cyclones either. Hoiberg brought in four-star forward Georges Niang this season and has a pair of four-star guards — Monte Morris and Matt Thomas — signed on for next year as well. Replacing a unique NBA talent like Royce White will be tough. But with the way Hoiberg has built the program so quickly as if his job was on the line, Iowa State is set up nicely to begin competing for Big 12 championships soon.
