Edozie to bring energy, size to Iowa State

AMES — There aren’t too many Fred Hoiberg media outings in which Iowa State’s head coach doesn’t use the words “high motor and/or energy” to describe his team’s current leading scorer, Tyrus McGee.

Mike Marquis, the head coach at Tyler Community College (Texas),  used those same words in an interview with Cyclone Fanatic on Monday night describing Iowa State’s newest basketball signee, Daniel Edozie.

“He’s got a high motor. He’s very physical. He’s well above average for his size defensively,” said Marquis. “He’s got a good post game, a good hook. He’s physical on the block and is really starting to face up. It’s all coming together. He kind of went from a high school center to more of a face-up 4-man.” 

Edozie, a 6-foot-8, 235-pound power forward, will bring all of that to Iowa State next season after officially signing with the Cyclones on Monday. Edozie, a native of Compton, Calif., is averaging 10.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game so far this season for the TJC. 

“He’s obviously been a big part of our success,” said Marquis. “He’s starting to play better and better each game.” 

Edozie is the fifth prospect to sign with Hoiberg during the early signing period. He’ll have two years of eligibility to compete in Ames. If you glance ahead to Iowa State’s roster in 2013-14, you’ll notice the absence of a physical big man – much like the role Anthony Booker is playing for the Cyclones this season. That’s where Edozie enters the picture. 

“We started looking at the roster and playing opportunities and the more we did, the better and better we felt,” said Marquis. “That was before his visit.”

Edozie verbally committed to Minnesota back in October. That eventually fell through and that’s when Iowa State really dove in on his recruitment. He’s not a complete player that can jump in at the Big 12 level right now but Marquis said he will work with Iowa State to get Edozie as high-major ready as possible before his arrival in Ames.

“Typically what we do is coach him to the best of our ability to win our games and then there gets to be a point where we ask them (Iowa State) for a list of things they’d like to see in individual workouts,” said Marquis. “We’ll put together a package for him to really work hard on from things in the weight room to individual basketball moves. 

According to our updated scholarship chart here at Cyclone Fanatic, Iowa State now has zero scholarships to fill in its 2013 class. At this point in time (assuming there won’t be any turbulence (which we all know is always a big assumption) in the off-season, your 2013-14 Iowa State basketball roster is complete.