New role awaits Lucious at Iowa State

By Chris Williams, CycloneFanatic.com Publisher

In 18 games during his junior season at Michigan State, Korie Lucious averaged 6.5 points and 4.1 assists per game. As a sophomore, he averaged 5.6 points and 3.3 assists per contest.

Those numbers certainly aren’t eye-popping.  It was never a talent thing with Lucious though. You can’t judge a book by its cover right? Well, you can’t always judge a point guard by his numbers. Scoring wasn’t Lucious’ role at Michigan State, who played in the Final Four last season.

While it is still unsure exactly what he’ll be asked to do in Ames, it is pretty clear that Lucious will do more with the basketball than he did during his three seasons in East Lansing. Lucious welcomes this challenge.

“All of my life I had been the focal point of the team. At Michigan State, I wasn’t that,” Lucious said. “I went away from it for a couple of years but going back into the situation where I will be a key player or whatever the case may be, that is normal to me. I am going to just help this team win. Hopefully my teammates are on the same level. We’re going to play hard every day.”

Hoiberg has a small but certain track record for rejuvenating the career of a talented guard. Just ask Diante Garrett.

During his freshmen through junior seasons, Garrett averaged 8.4 points and 4.3 assists per game. As a senior under Hoiberg, Garrett is averaging 17.2 points and 6.1 assists per contest. He went from being a Big 12 afterthought to a potential NBA Draft pick.

Three weeks ago, Lucious told me this about a conversation that he had with Fred Hoiberg during his official visit.

“They said that what Diante is doing this year is what I will be able to do,” Lucious said. “When I talked with Coach Hoiberg, he told me that what Diante is doing now is what he has planned for Chris (Allen).”

Lucious said that he will arrive in Ames for the second session of summer classes.