Iowa State enters the 2016-17 basketball season with one of the deepest and most talented backcourts in the college basketball. Despite that fact, there’s one question that’s been asked more than any other.
Where’s Cameron Lard?
The 6-foot-9-inch forward has been a hot topic of conversation since he signed with Iowa State as part of the 2016 recruiting class, but he became an even hotter topic when he didn’t arrive on campus this summer or fall. As of Tuesday, we have an answer.
Lard is back at Pro Vision Academy in Houston where he spent his senior year, working to fully qualify in order to arrive in Ames in December.
“He’s going to do a semester there,” Iowa State head coach Steve Prohm said. “Finish up there then we hope to have him here fully academic qualified in December.”
Lard is taking three courses this semester at Pro Vision. If he makes it to Ames in December, he will redshirt the spring semester before being eligible to play in the 2017-18 season.
“He was ruled a non-qualifier but he went to a couple different high schools so the evaluation process took a while,” Prohm said. “Courses counting, courses not counting. He’s in good position where one good semester he could qualify. Talking with him and his family we decided to go that route. He’s there, he’ll finish up then he’ll be here in December. Hopefully, he should be able to knock all that out.”
Prohm said the final decision on Lard’s status wasn’t really made until last week. There was still questions about getting him into school even as recently as two weeks ago.
The former three-star recruit will be a huge addition to Iowa State’s roster, even though he can’t play this season. He likely would’ve seen a great deal more attention on the recruiting trail without the questions surrounding his eligibility.
Even with those questions, Lard drew scholarship offers from Cincinnati, Mississippi State, Oklahoma State and a handful of others. Schools that showed interest, but didn’t offer, included Baylor, Purdue, Ole Miss and Tennessee.
“It’s great. We’re excited,” Prohm said. “He’s going to provide us some energy, athleticism up front. He’s obviously got great upside and so we’re excited about him.”
