And a look back at famous last words from a year ago about this time last year. Just goes to show you hope springs eternal in sports. Look at all those horses below.
Thursday, May 12, 2005 - Did you know that Iowa State has landed not one, but two of the top junior college players in the nation? That's when I stumbled upon the fact that the Cyclones had signed 6'10 Jessan Gray from Tyler (JC) TX, who not only is ranked #33 on our list of the top junior college players, but also is capable of playing both inside and outside, as is evident by the fact that he averaged 10.9 ppg and 5.7 rpg, shot 48.8% percent from the field (122-250 FG), and was ranked 28th in Region XIV in scoring and eighth in 3-point field goal percentage (40-113 3FG). And upon further investigation I also found that Iowa State had landed 6'11 Jiri Hubalek from Marshalltown (JC) IA, who was one of only three freshmen named First Team All-Region and finished second in the league in rebounding with 8.6 rpg and fourth in blocked shots with almost one per game. Hubalek, who redshirted his first season and played only one year in junior college, will have three years of eligibility remaining at Iowa State. And, just like Gray, he also can step outside and score in the low post. As a matter of fact, we're talking about somebody who averaged 12.4 ppg and shot 61.4% from the field this past season. He also was named the MVP in at the 2002 European Holland Nordic Basketball Tournament while playing from the Czech Republic Junior National Team. We also found out that 6'10 Kellan Lee from Laurinburg (Institute) NC is no longer at part of Iowa State's recruiting class, but, then again, they don't really need him, because they've also got 6'9 Theo Davis from Toronto, ON, 6'11 Shawn Taggart from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, 6'10 Ross Marsden from Ames (H.S.) IA, 6'3 Farnold Degand from Boston (John Bryant) MA, and 6'8 Mike Evanovich from South Kent (Prep) CT in the fold. So it should comes as no surprise that we now have Iowa State's recruiting class ranked #6 our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005. However, even more important, it appears that Iowa State head coach Wayne Morgan will now have the horses inside that he needs to complement 6'2 Soph Curtis Stinson, 5'11 Soph Will Blalock, and 6'6 Frosh Rahshon Clark out on the perimeter.