Mason Williams commits to ISU

[ScottyP]

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.

TJ mentioned that he will stay up late and catch some of the west coast games. That is how he identified Chatfield.

He was watching Seattle play Washington and was impressed by Chatfield. When he saw Brandt's name in the portal, he immediately jumped on it.

 

[mgordon]

There is a Rhode to getting one.

And a Toure of Iowa to get one as well.

 

[MeanDean]

Plays a little bit of guitar, too

 

[LLCoolCY]

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.

TJ left Fred for an assistant job at UW for a couple of years and has recruiting ties to the area. Relationships matter in recruiting even now. Main reason ISU is focused on recruiting Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota too.

 

[psycln11]

Other than Cluff, I would expect us to continue to look for "hidden gems" in the portal rather than bidding top dollar for the guys in the Top 50.

There almost always seems to be a prior connection between the staff and a kid when they transfer in - which makes sense, you can't build a relationship and really judge if someone is going to "fit" culturally in 2 days.

I wonder if Mason is someone that TJ knew of, or has a connection with, from his days at Washington

TJ Was at Washington in 2013-2015. Mason would have been 10 years old then.

 

[Cyclad]

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.

I am a Nate fan. Good defender and rebounder. Ended up being a very good shooter. I cringed when he shot the first half of the season. He was money late. Not a great creator, but cuts well and became deadly from. 3.
Assuming TJ continues his substitution pattern, he may or may not start - imho.

 

[Cyclonepride]

TJ Was at Washington in 2013-2015. Mason would have been 10 years old then.

I'm guessing the coaches around the area were not 10

 

[qwerty]

TJ Was at Washington in 2013-2015. Mason would have been 10 years old then.

I think he is referring more to the coaches and programs in that area, not today's players themselves.

 

[jcyclonee]

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!

I'd consider Rohde a home run or at least a triple.

 

[CloniesForLife]

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

I'd like to get some front court guys with multiple years because we saw how much growth Rob and Hasan had over a couple years. Cluff is obviously a take no matter what but just with our defensive system some continuity in the front court would be nice as I feel like it can take bigs a little longer to figure it out.

 

[CloniesForLife]

I'd consider Rohde a home run or at least a triple.

If he can lighten Tamins minute load he's a home run. We need Tamin to be mostly healthy to reach our full potential

 

[bosco]

I seem to recall that TJ coached someone in the Northwest. Can't put my finger on it. University of Oregon Trail maybe?

 

[MTCyclone43]

Welcome aboard young man. This is a DUDE! I saw him play against U of M, no not Michigan- Montana in the Big Sky. He went for 20 that night. I remember he had some nice handles and nice size.

 

[t-noah]

Plays a little bit of guitar, too

And a littler bit of violin, french horn, trombone, trumpet, and drums! Very talented.

 

[t-noah]

Welcome Mason!

 

[BoxsterCy]

Plays a little bit of guitar, too

First thing I thought of. Pep bands needs this as his intro tune. Being a young guy someone will have to introduce the tune to him and maybe the peep band to.

 

[NoCreativity]

I seem to recall that TJ coached someone in the Northwest. Can't put my finger on it. University of Oregon Trail maybe?

I thought I heard he coached in the Yukon Territory.

 

[peteypie]

I thought I heard he coached in the Yukon Territory.

It's spelled UCONN. And that's out East

 

[madguy30]

I seem to recall that TJ coached someone in the Northwest. Can't put my finger on it. University of Oregon Trail maybe?

 

[Win5002]

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.

Jefferson IMO is equivalent to the 5 tool player in baseball. The one thing that if he could improve could take him from all conference consideration to all american would be adding a little more lift to his vertical leap. If he could do that the sky is the limit for him, because he gets bogged down sometimes with the back to the basket and has a hard time elevating over players.