ISU should have some competitive men’s basketball practices

IOWA FALLS — The recruiting cycle has never really stopped for the Iowa State men's basketball team.

After seven months, which saw Coach Steve Prohm and his staff fill seven of nine available scholarships, Iowa State is close to having its pieces in place for a run at a seventh-straight NCAA tournament.

'How big everybody's role is you never know, but I like where we're at,' Prohm said. 'We obviously have two scholarships to go, but whether we use them or not, who knows. You want competitive practices and I think both red and gold will be able to really get after each other.'

Senior point guard Donovan Jackson, sophomore forward Solomon Young and junior guard Nick Weiler-Babb are the veterans — all of whom have played one year in Ames. Freshmen Lindell Wigginton and Terrence Lewis will be blended with graduate transfers Jeff Beverly and Hans Brase.

But the biggest intrigue, aside from on-court results, could be from a couple guys who won't play a minute next season. Transfers Marial Shayok (Virginia) and Michael Jacobson (Nebraska), who will sit out next season, give Iowa State scout team players who have high-major experience, not unlike Fred Hoiberg's first couple years in Ames.

Stiff competition in practice, Prohm hopes, will help bring everybody up to speed.

'Our gold team is going to be pretty good,' Prohm said a week before Jacobson signed. 'It's going to have some youth and is going to have some experience with some sit-out guys. Having Shayok on that team is going to be great going against Babb and going against Lewis and those guys for sure.'

Hoiberg's first scout team — led by transfers Royce White, Chris Babb and Chris Allen — were lauded as the best practice team in the nation. Korie Lucious and Will Clyburn carried the trend a year later. A similar opportunity exists for Shayok and Jacobson.

Shayok, 6-foot-5 and 196 pounds, was the second-leading scorer at Virginia last year and averaged 8.9 points in 20.6 minutes. Jacobson, 6-9 and 240, developed a reputation as a hard-nosed rebounder, averaging 6.2 boards and 6.0 points per game.

The benefits of a quality scout team, Jacobson said, are plentiful.

'I think we're going to give that first group or those first 8-9 guys a pretty good look on scout team,' Jacobson said. 'I think it's going to be good for the guys who are playing, I think it's going to be good for us and I think it's going to help the overall program and the success that we're having.'

Although they won't share the floor in a game, Iowa State will have some size on its roster with the additions of Jacobson and Brase. Including Young and redshirt freshman Cameron Lard the Cyclones will have four players that are at least 6-foot-8 and 220 pounds.

This influx of size, Prohm said, isn't something that forces the Cyclones to play differently. They'll still be a perimeter-oriented team, but with the luxury of having a few versatile big men.

'I've played the same way give or take my whole college coaching career. It won't change at all,' Prohm said. 'We're recruiting guys in 2018 with skill up front that I think will go along with the rest of the guys we'll have returning and get a couple more guards. We're not going to change the way we play, we won't ever do that.'

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