By Chris Williams, CycloneFanatic.com Publisher
The Iowa State men’s basketball program has added a member to it’s 2011 recruiting class.
Anthony Odunsi, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound combo-guard out of Travis High School in Fort Bend, Tex. told CycloneFanatic.com that he has committed to play for Fred Hoiberg at Iowa State.
“It was mostly the coaching staff,” Odunsi said when describing why he committed to Iowa State. “Coach (Fred) Hoiberg really seems like he is out for my best interests. Coach T.J. (Otzelberger) has been recruiting me for a couple of months but it seems like I have known him for years. The coaching staff is really the most important thing.”
Iowa State had been recruiting Odunsi before Greg McDermott left for Creighton. It was Hoiberg’s job security in Ames that sealed the deal.
“The fact that Coach Hoiberg is from Ames makes it a lot more likely that he’ll be there for Anthony’s four years in school,” said Odunsi’s high school coach Craig Bronson. “I think that Anthony really sees a couple of coaches who are going to take an interest in him. They have more concern with him than just basketball. He is a tremendous young man and he’ll be a great addition to the Cyclone program.”
Odunsi took an unofficial visit to Ames last Tuesday. While on Iowa State’s campus, it didn’t take long for the term “Hilton Magic” to catch his attention.
“I am excited about the arena that I will be playing in and all of the fans,” Odunzi said. “He (Hoiberg) told me that it gets crazy in there. We watched some film when I visited there and I could hear it through the TV.”
Odunsi said that he committed to Iowa State last Friday.
Odunsi had plenty of options when it came to picking a school. Vanderbilt was the first school to really get in the mix as they offered him as a sophomore. Other schools that showed heavy interest were Wichita State, Colorado State, Santa Clara and San Diego.
“Playing in the Big 12 is always a lure for kids in getting to play against the best competition and testing yourself,” Bronson said.
By committing to Iowa State, Odunsi also assures himself the opportunity to go head-to-head with his former high school teammate and good friend Ray Penn, who plays for Oklahoma State. Watch a video of the two playing one-on-one above.
Odunsi is set to play AAU ball with the Houston Swoosh Select this summer.
Odunsi’s stats from his junior year are listed below. We’ll be posting a full Anthony Odunsi scouting report here at CF later on today.
Odunsi’s 2010 statistics
16.7 points per game 4.2 rebounds per game 3.5 assists per game 2.8 steals per game 77 percent from the free throw line
