WILLIAMS: The finishing touches on ISU’s hoops roster

On Monday, a lot of background noise finally became official in the world of Iowa State basketball. 

Brady Ernst, a big man who sat out last season with a redshirt, announced that he was transferring away from the program.

That news was hardly a shocker.

Elsewhere, Iowa State made it official that graduate-transfers Merrill Holden and Darrell Bowie had signed.

Donovan Jackson is in, which means that there is really only one mystery left when it comes to college basketball’s silly season and Steve Prohm’s roster for 2016-17.

Will Emmanuel Malou make it to campus and if he doesn’t, who will take up Iowa State’s 13th scholarship.

I’ll leave you guys with two predictions on the matter:

1) No, the highly-touted JUCO big man will not be a Cyclone. My guess is that a combination of academic worries and trouble with the NCAA will sadly force him to officially enter the 2016 NBA Draft.

2) What next? After the important acquisition of Holden over the weekend, I’m guessing that Prohm and his staff will turn their attention to 2017-18 and go with the best transfer available.  

When you consider that nearly half (six) of the allotted scholarships on Iowa State’s roster are set to graduate following 2016-17, having an experienced transfer waiting in the wings makes a heck of a lot of sense.