For the second year in a row, the Iowa State men’s basketball team enters the season with a front court that has gotten a nearly complete makeover. After the graduations of Darrell Bowie, Merrill Holden and Deonte Burton, sophomore Solomon Young will essentially be the only holdover from last year’s team.
That fact will force Young to take on an even bigger role than he held as a true freshman when he averaged 4.4 points and 3.3 rebounds while starting the Cyclones’ last 12 games. In those 12 games, the team went 10-2 and he brought an added toughness the squad had lacked most of the year.
“Just trying to expand my game, expand my skill,” Young told Cyclone Fanatic when asked about his goals for the summer on Thursday at the Capital City League. “Getting ready to play more minutes sophomore year.”
Young, who scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds in Doerrfeld Promotions’ 118-76 win over JayTees Apparel on Thursday, will likely have to be the anchor of Iowa State’s bigs while newcomers Jeff Beverly, Hans Brase and even Terrence Lewis make the adjustment to the Power 5 game. During the YMCA Capital City League, he’s shown an improved ability to score with his back to the basket while still displaying the same level of toughness defensively and on the glass.
It is tough to truly gauge the progress of big guys during CCL play due to the lack of quality players for them to face. With that said, you can see there’s a willingness from Young to be more of an offensive threat than there was when he played in the league last season.
“We’ve got a team that’s full of skilled guys,” Young said of this year’s roster. “We’ve just got to put it all together into a team.”
CCL Notes
*** Terrence Lewis scored 28 points, on 13-of-15 shooting from the field, including 13-of-13 from inside the arc, and grabbed five rebounds in the win for Doerrfeld.
*** Marial Shayok scored 36 points to lead Sparta Waste Services to a 115-103 win over Des Moines Outreach Lions Club. His scoring performance took him over 200 points for the CCL slate with three regular season games left to go. Cameron Lard scored 16 points, grabbed 10 boards and blocked three shots in the win.
*** Michael Jacobson scored 14 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead Hannah Homes to a 118-105 win over Hinterland. Donovan Jackson scored 33 points, on 12-of-30 shooting, in the loss.
