Lewis will play against Missouri; Lard not traveling with the team

Terrence Lewis (right, standing) and Cameron Lard (seated on the left) on the bench during Iowa State’s exhibition win over Emporia State. Both players missed the game due to coach’s decision. (Photo credit: Chad Bassman)

Freshman forward Terrence Lewis will make his debut in an Iowa State uniform Friday night in the Cyclones’ regular-season opener against Missouri. The 6-foot-6, 195-pound former four-star recruit missed Iowa State’s exhibition win over Emporia State due to a coach’s decision.

On the other hand, Iowa State will still be without redshirt freshman center Cameron Lard after he missed Sunday’s exhibition for the same reason. The 6-foot-9, 225-pound former three-star recruit will not travel with the team to Columbia.

“Lewis will be back. He’ll be with us at Missouri,” Iowa State head coach Steve Prohm said. “Cameron will stay back.”

Prohm said he hopes Lard will be available when the Cyclones travel to South Carolina next weekend for the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. The Natchitoches, La. native redshirted his first year in Ames after arriving on campus in January.

Lard, who led the team with five blocked shots in the secret scrimmage loss to Nebraska last month, has still been performing well in practice, according to Prohm.

“Yeah, he’s been great,” Prohm said. “He’s been great. He’ll be with us shortly, but he won’t be at Missouri. He’s been terrific. Been making steps in the right direction. All the guys have. We’ll get him back out there shortly and he’s been practicing really well.”

Lard’s absence will leave Iowa State with eight available players against the Tigers, who have been one of the biggest stories of the college basketball offseason with the arrival of new head coach Cuanzo Martin and Michael Porter Jr., the nation’s top recruit.

The Cyclones will also be without graduate transfer senior Hans Brase as he still works to recover from ACL surgery. Prohm hopes to have the former Princeton big man back for the tournament in South Carolina as well.

At this point, it is not clear what has kept the two freshmen off the court for public consumption, but Prohm did hint that it was for similar reasons.

“You could say that,” Prohm said. “You could say that.”