The members of Iowa State men’s basketball’s 2018 signing class met with the media for the first time on Tuesday. Here are some of the quotable highlights on each player’s game, their adjustment to college and how they feel their first summer of college basketball has gone.
Tyrese Haliburton
On his summer and what he’s made his focus on the court…
“It’s going really good so far. I’ve gained about 15 pounds already,” Haliburton said. “Just every aspect. I think there’s no such thing as being a perfect player. You’ve always got something to work on. Right now, it’s just improving my shot, consistency, communication. I’m going from being the oldest guy back to being the youngest guy so just making sure everybody’s listening to me and being the leader vocally.”
George Conditt
On his focuses so far this summer…
“Some of the big things I’ve been trying to focus on are gaining weight, getting stronger, staying in the weight room,” Conditt said. “But on the court, I’ve been focusing on a lot of post activity. A lot of mid-range.”
Zion Griffin
On having to watch his teammates while he rehabs from offseason knee surgery…
“I’m a competitor,” Griffin said. “Just seeing other people play, just going to Cap City, it makes me kind of anxious, but I’ve got to understand that it’s a setback right now and I’ve got to stay humble through it all and just take it all in. Then I’ll get back to it.”
Talen Horton-Tucker
On his focuses so far this summer…
“Right now, I’m just focusing on getting here and getting with my teammates,” Horton-Tucker said. “I want to win, that’s actually the most important thing. As winning comes, expectations for myself probably will grow, but right now I’m just focused on winning.”
On Tyrese Haliburton…
“Tyrese is good,” Horton-Tucker said. “You guys saw him at the Cap City and he’s great.”
Steve Prohm
On THT’s summer focus…
“The biggest thing I expect from him from day one is just to be a sponge,” Prohm said. “Be coachable, learn, get himself in great, great shape and then go to the next step. He’s a very, very talented player. He’s shown some great flashes out there. But as a freshman, it’s a big learning curve. My biggest thing is to not worry about all the outside expectations. Just worry about internally what’s going on here and if he does that, he has a chance to have a really good year for us.”
On George Conditt…
“I think George is showing some flashes,” Prohm said. “Now, he’s a freshman and he’s trying to catch up in different areas, but he’s showing some flashes of A. he’s coachable where you can say, ‘Next time, do this.’ and the next play down he does that. And like I told him, with big guys, the change happens fast. You can stay, stay, stay, stay, then all of a sudden, man, bam, and he takes a big jump. That’s why he has to have his daily habits good. I think he’s got a chance to do some good things. He’s skilled. I think he has a good basketball IQ. He’s just got to continue to keep getting stronger.”
On if he’s worried about Zion Griffin’s availability for the season…
“Not at all,” Prohm said. “He’ll go home. We’re trying to get him situated where he’ll go home and get some shots up, no competition, then get some weight work in. When he gets back here, get another check up then we’ll slowly, gradually get him ready to get back out on the floor. He’s been looking very good in his last couple individual just shooting workouts, but he’s looked good in it. I think the last two weeks we were worried a little bit, but the last two weeks he’s showed great improvement. I think he’s happy about that. We are too because we need to get him out there.”
