Mason Williams commits to ISU
- Thread starter LLCoolCY
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Really important given the experience that we will lose after next year.
At this point it seems like there's a good rotation with the returners, the two transfers, and hope that 2 of the Fr. will be in the rotation.
It definitely seems like the crosshairs can be on Cluff or another high level guy.
Considering Jefferson was out until August this year due to injury, with the full offseason I think we are going to see a very interesting offense that works through JJ. With JJ and MM, those are two very unique offensive players that are going to create matchup problems.
Kind of strange that the state of Washington is now an Iowa State fertile recruiting ground for us now. Mason, Jazz, Chatfield. Pretty crazy we are pulling guys from there. Also if Oscar comes he played at Washington state.
Not to set expectations too high - but if all 4 HSers make it to campus plus Mulder, Williams, Cluff and Rohde from the portal - that would be an A+++ offseason in my book
TJ was an assistant at Washington, I'm sure he still has connections in that area of the world.
TJ was an assistant in Washington for 3 seasons - I'm sure he made a few contacts
Agreed. A part of why I'm pretty positive about next season almost regardless of the exact transfers ISU lands is that I think Jefferson is the big key anyway. If he can take that next step, he could be a truly elite player that you run your offense through. His ball-handling could use a little tightening but he's already good there and his vision is spectacular.
That is actually pretty nice! Sometimes they don't transition well to the P5.
We have our big 3 imo if Tamin can look more like Sophomore year and second half of conference play, Milan, and Joshua. The rest fit in.
I think Nate H. has had a year to figure out how he can fit in, and he may have a bigger role for us next year too. The way TJ likes to bring several players off the bench CuJo proved a player doesn’t have to start and can play a key role.
Had 7 games over 20 points this season, we needed someone with confidence to score like that.
The other thing to keep in mind about point guard/primary ball handler, is that depending on the strengths of our other guards Tamin can absolutely handle that role if needed. He averaged 4.0 and 4.6 assists per game in his first two years (and he averaged 6 assists a game in the last four conference games when Gilbert was out or limited). We moved him off the ball some this year partially because of how good Gilbert was breaking down the defense the first half of the year.
Nate would be a great option to do that too, as he could provide a burst of defense, rebounding and toughness. Either way, I think he has earned the starting spot too barring a really, really good summer and fall by a newcomer.
Agree
But, huge IF on Cluff. I think he is the only home run in that group of portal guys. We obviously continue our bargain shopping, which TJ has done very well.
I love the freshman. Solid group, pre portal and NIL I would be thrilled with that group. I still am, but the odds of them staying together and developing are much less than they used to be. Only elite freshman can compete with 5th year seniors.
Times have changed, we all must adapt, and TJ has shown a great ability to thrive in this new environment. In TJ I trust. Go get Cluff!
Hey. Does anyone remember where TJ coached before UNLV and SDSU? Any chance it was in the Pacific NW somewhere...?
Starting to feel MUCH better about the state of the team next season, even with who all is transferring out and/or graduating. Never doubted Otz for a moment; was more like “who’s being brought in this year”… and it looks promising.
Iowa StateHey. Does anyone remember where TJ coached before UNLV and SDSU? Any chance it was in the Pacific NW somewhere...?
another great example of why having these transfers for 2 years is really important - Heise had a great last month of the year and is positioned to be really really effective next year. I would expect much the same from Mason - like Curtis or Nate their first years, he'll struggle for the first half, then come on in the second and be poised to star the next year
