You have to remember that the Cyclones are not an awful program!  If by chance they were in another league or let’s say if the Big 8 combined with teams from the SWC the boys from Ames would not look so bad.  But like their brethren in Lincoln and programs like Northwestern, Washington State, Ole Miss and to some degree even Clemson, Iowa State is just caught in the bad position of hanging with the Jacksons when you got the talent of the Osmonds!  Orr does have some returning talent foremost of which is senior Zaid Abdul-Aziz (formerly known as Don Smith).  Aziz is one of the best big men in the conference as far as being able to bang and board and score from inside the paint.  The problem is that since he has got to Ames, Aziz has been required to play the center position and at 6’9 235, he has some size but nothing compared to the behemoths he has to do battle with twice a year in this league.  And even if you discount the singular talents that are Chamberlain and Kurland the rest of the league has a slew of big, bulky post players they can send at you in waves.  You have to fight for survival in these corn fields.  Scarecrows don’t get it done against the Sooners who can truly send five guys as big and as physical as Aziz.  The Tigers, Wildcats and Buffs might not be as deep up front but even the lowly Cornhuskers will send about 4 corn fed 7 footers to rotate their fouls and physicality at you every night!  Aziz has done a stellar job of holding down the fort but the constant banging does wear a man down and he cannot wait to get to the next level where he will be able to play his more natural four position.  For now this New York City kid is the anchor in the middle for the Cyclones.  Orr does have one monster he can and will send out there again this year.  Junior Dean Uthoff is a 6’11 250 pound chiseled man down low.  The ‘Man Mountain’ is a terrific rebounder and is not afraid to mix it up and does have some skills.  Scoring is not one of them.  Uthoff took a trip over to Australia during the summer and was a huge success on the tour down under.  He led the junior national team in rebounding and the fans loved him but alas he barely touched the ball on the offensive end except for put backs.  Uthoff will play as the Cyclones need this brut but Orr will be tested to leave him in games they are down ten and need some offensive firepower to come back.  Uthoff, as big as he is, is not much of a rim protector either which would help his chances of getting on the court more as boy does this team need someone who can block a shot!  Still, you should not underestimate how important just the mere size of this Iowa bred and corn fed (and that term never fit more aptly with anyone else ever) kid could mean to this team!

Battling for the starting spot next to Aziz will be seniors Henry Lee ‘Hank’ Whitney, Bill Cain and John Crawford.  Crawford is the least likely to get serious minutes but he started an important pipeline to the Midwest from the Big Apple!  Crawford is a 6’5 jumper who has played his fair share of minutes down low for the Cyclones (even at the 5 as he did in the most famous game in Cyclone history when they upset Kansas a few years back in the old Armory, a game with which Crawford’s impact cannot be understated) but is a bit too small (he only weighs 183 pounds) for those wars in this league.  Crawford was however not only the first black athlete recruited to Ames (along with his friend Stacey Arceneaux who was not eligible and got homesick and returned home and is now tearing it up in the Eastern Basketball League) was also the first player recruited from New York City.  In the language that Iowans know all too well ‘if you build it they will come’ soon many other athletes were taking trips to the Midwest as Whitney, Vince Brewer and even Aziz who Whitney went and got himself back in the Big Apple.  Heck even Cain comes from White Plains and though the Cyclones might have set the template with this great group of players others joined in especially the hated Hawkeyes who got arguably the best player ever from NYC in Connie ‘the Hawk-isn’t that quaint’-Hawkins.  Of course these cats know of the legendary Hawkins and are not intimidated by him as Whitney himself takes pride in being able to frustrate the legendary street ball king in some notorious games up at Rucker Park!  Whitney and Cain are both 6’7 physical players who do not mind mixing it up and are the favorites in this wide open competition but supposedly Eustachy has got a couple of gems that will be in the mix as well.  Orr will rotate often up front and there are some guys who can play but the only constant will be the dominant play of Aziz in the paint.  He is without question one of the best big men in this conference and though he does not get the recognition as some of the others his peers and opposing coaches know how good he is.  And they also know you better be ready to bang down low with these Cyclones even if they are not quite as big as some of the other teams in this league known for it’s physical big men.  There are a couple of undersized underclassmen (say that fast five times) who have a shot at some playing time but need to get some experience and bulk up a bit.  It looks like Sam Hill and Lafester Rhodes both are centers who go about 6’8 and platooned on the JV as one is offense and one is defense.  Time is on thier side but there chances of playing this year on varsity are slim especially with some of the kids Eustachy er Orr has coming in.  There is a couple of incoming kids who will most definitely play.  First and foremost is the aforementioned first Cyclone recruit ever to play in the McDonald’s AA game. Freshman Marcus Fizer of Arcadia Louisiana who comes in at 6’9 and 262 pounds and none of it is flab.  He is all muscle!  And yes he can play.  He has the skill set of a three at least offensively but will probably end up as a four.  The Cyclones have a connection to the Bayou State with Eustachy being Tim Floyd’s assistant for the Idaho Vandals before Floyd left to rebuild the New Orleans (and we are not talking about Katrina) Privateers program.  This connection most definitely benefitted the Cyclones as Fizer was going to go to the Privateers but Floyd convinced him that playing at a power five conference (even if it is the Cyclones) would benefit him more for his long term goal of getting to the pro level.  Of course Floyd knew he was probably going to go to the pros himself (he has one heck of a bond with general manager Jerry Krause of the Chicago Bulls) so this was the right thing to do!  Ironically there is another recruit coming in from Detroit (the Orr connection) who is almost exactly the same size as Fizer but plays an entirely different game.  Victor Alexander is 6’9 about 255 but let’s just say he is not chiseled.  Alexander relies on his girth to gain and maintain position in the paint and then do damage around the basket.  He is nowhere near the talent level of Fizer but with Aziz leaving after this year the Cyclones need to get as many big men as they can to compete in this league. 

  The leader of the Cyclones for the last three years has been senior guards Gary Thompson and Ray Wehde.  It seems like ever since Thompson left the small town of Roland Iowa that made him a legend there and set foot in Ames he has been the man on this campus. Yes, the ‘Roland Rocket’ is only 5’11 but man can he play this game.  He is a scorer first but Thompson does everything well and beyond that he is the type of kid you would want dating your daughter.  His teammates love him and the fans adore him and sure there are rumors that Orr would like someone with a little more size manning the two spot but Thompson is the captain of this team!  Of course he is the starting shortstop on the baseball team so he’s got that going for him too!  Either way Cyclone basketball revolves around this small kid who could! Or at least it has! Wehde also moonlights around Ames but as a hurdler on the track team.  This kid is tough as heck and a solid player but took a seat on the pine last year with a big time combo guard moving into town.  With all of the back court recruits Orr has coming in, Wehde’s competitive days might be behind him, at least on the court, but man he was part of some great games back in the day for these Cyclones. 

If you are from Iowa I guess a good first name to have might be Jeffery.  As in you might a well take a Jeffery to make you feel good!  The two Jeffs (what no Mutts?), both sophomores are both due to be starters for the Cyclones this season.  Coach Orr goes into the season with one Jeff that being Mr. Hornacek running the point. Hornacek is a 6’4 Iowa kid who looks like he just fell of a hay wagon has all the skills you need whether running the show or playing the two spot.  Horny, which is his nickname which does not fit the way he looks at all as he bears a striking resemblance to Jake Gyllenhaal (how about we go with Bubble Boy)  is a terrific long range shooter.  Playing the point prohibits him from being able to run off screens and catch and shooting from behind the arc.  The problem is the Cyclones do not have a better choice (or for that matter even close) of their returning players to run the show.  There are rumors that Eustachy grabbed a couple of studs from Rucker Park.  You might ask what Eustachy is doing up at Rucker park and of course the answer will be he thought it was a coed dorm.  Of course when the guys coming in are nicknamed Mel the Abuser and Blue Collar you know you are getting some hard working, tough kids who will fit right in amongst the corn in Ames.  The fans will love these cats and so will Orr if it allows him to move Hornacek to the two guard at some point this season. Then of course he will have to deal with the blowback from replacing Thompson but that has to happen sometime doesn’t it?

Sophomore wing man Jeff Grayer is a muscular slasher who loves to get to the hoop.   The 6’5 stud posts up smaller players and can hit mid-range jumpers.  This Jeff loves to go inside and battle with the big boys and uses his strength and leaping to grab boards and dunk over people.  He can also run the court and can finish from the wing.  Grayer gives the Cyclones a kind of athleticism they have not had on the wing though his perimeter game is nowhere near the large group of teammates he is competing against.  This ability to go inside with the big boys sets him apart and gives this ‘grayhound’ a leg when Orr, who recruited him from his old stomping grounds Michigan, fills out the starting lineup.  He will be a fixture in this program for the next three years.  Fellow sophomore Barry Stevens will back Grayer and can score as well.  The funny thing about these two is they came in together from Flint Michigan and knew they would be competing early on with completely different styles of basketball.  Stevens is more of a perimeter guy who is a gifted long range shooter on a team that is filled with three point specialists.  He is a bit undersized for the three and with all of these shooters in front took a role on the bench.  He more likely will be in the mix behind Thompson at the two and would give the Cyclones big backcourt next to Hornacek unless of course Orr moves Horny over to the two and Stevens stays in a role as a super sub.  The Cyclones do have some depth in the backcourt with a slew of guys who can flat shoot the ball.  Juniors Hercle ‘Poison’ Ivy and Andrew Parker are superb offensive players who will get some minutes and either one of them could break into the starting five if the cow chips fall right.  Ivy has unlimited range and can also get to the hoop and is not a bad passer and might get some minutes at the point.  He plays absolutely no defense though and that put him in Orr’s doghouse last year but he will get another shot to clean that up this year.  He is too talented not to get more playing time.  Parker is a big guard at 6’5 and will get some minutes behind Grayer and in reality is in a battle with Stevens for playing time at least until something happens with Thompson.  It is nice to have all of these bigger guards that can play next to Thompson who does guard the point on the other team but at some point Orr will have to give some of these guys more PT.  And this does not even include the slew of recruits coming in including a second generation stud from Flint that Orr scooped up from his old haunting grounds as just because Eustachy is around does not mean Johnny does not beat the bushes.  Eustachy did bring in three wings including a hometown hero who led the local high school to a state title and already being called ‘the Mayor’ in Ames. 

Though nobody wants to admit it in Ames this is still another building year as the Cyclones have little chance of qualifying for the post season but stranger things have happened in Iowa (or is that Indiana?).  And if the freshman class is as good as some say then the future could be sooner than some might think and perhaps those long, cold winters in Ames will be a little warmer soon enough!  But even if that class if filled with seven foot studs who drain threes all day it is unlikely this team moves anywhere near the top of the heap in this league as Kansas looks almost unbeatable and the two Oklahoma schools are pretty damn good stacked.  The Cyclones have given Coach Johnny Orr some help with the recruiting as the Michigan pipeline was only going to fill so many needs especially when you are getting second tier talent.  Iowa State realizes that getting the best talent is paramount to building a competitive program in this for now 8 team league no matter where they come from (Iowa, Nebraska, Michigan and even Louisiana are in play) and how they get them(JC, portal it does not matter).  If the Cyclones start to build some momentum and these kids show they can hang at this level then no matter how Iowa State finishes this will be a successful season in Ames.  After all the Jones can’t stay the Jones forever.  Or Can they?