Iowa State Basketball: Cyclones frontcourt presents puzzle for Steve Prohm

Iowa State basketball loses their three main forwards off their latest Sweet 16 team.

Iowa State has a problem.

Gone are forwards Georges Niang, Abdel Nader, and Jameel McKay. These three combined for 40 wins in their one and a half seasons as a true unit and accounted for 47% of Iowa State’s total points last year.

Replacing them is coach Steve Prohm’s first priority going into his second season.

The returning forwards for the moment are Deonte Burton, Simeon Carter, and Brady Ernst. Burton is more of a wing with his 6’4″ stature, so hopefully he won’t be asked to bang in the post too much next season.

The 6’8″ Carter and 6’9″ Ernst are the other forwards that saw any time in 2014-15, but neither saw much time as a freshman. Of the two, Carter was more athletic, but struggled mightily on defensive hedges and rotations. If he locks in this offseason, he might be a nice-looking asset for a roster devoid of experienced bigs.

Ernst is a solid body like old Cyclone center Jared Homan, but it’s hard to know what he can do after shutting it down just six games in from lingering knee problems.

Joining these three are Sacramento Bee Player of the Year Soloman Young from California, Louisiana forward Cameron Lard, JUCO product Emmanuel Malou, and Northern Illinois transfer Darrell Bowie.

All four of these guys present interesting scenarios for the coaching staff. Young is supremely talented, but undersized at 6’6″, Lard had eligibility issues transferring between high schools in Louisiana and is somewhat raw offensively, Malou has his own eligibility troubles thanks to academics from the defunct ABCD prep school in Des Moines, and Bowie has battled shoulder trouble over the past year.

There are a few things to keep in mind when evaluating the six (not including Burton) players I just listed. Assuming everyone is eligible and healthy, only three or four of these guys are going to play for a team that has four talented guards demanding minutes. Two others will likely see minutes off the bench.

Coach Prohm doesn’t like nine man rotations, so someone is sitting on the bench most nights unless the coaching philosophy changes. If I had to guess, I’d say that Young, Malou, and Bowie would be frontrunners for early rotation spots. Carter is something of an unknown, while Lard and Ernst project more for the 2017-2018 season.

Currently, the Cyclones have one more player on roster than there are scholarships. Lard is the odd man walk-on for now, which simply won’t do for a team that needs big bodies more than anything else. If I had to guess, I’d say that Carter is the one who could decide to transfer based on the potential of those coming in, which would move Lard into his scholarship spot.

One other wrinkle is the coaching staff’s energy for another big man as insurance, either a traditional freshman prospect of grad transfer. Cheickne Dembele and Kostas Antetokounmpo are both uncommitted prospects that have been targeted over the months, but very little buzz surrounds them right now.

As far as transfers go, 6’7″ L.G. Gill from Duquesne and 6’8″ Merrill Holden from Louisiana Tech have been mentioned as strong options. If there is one other guy I could see transferring right now, it would be seventh-man guard Hallice Cooke. That would free up one more spot for either of these two guys, preferably Holden.

There are also plenty of junior college guys out there who might sneak into the conversation while Iowa State’s staff covers areas ranging from Minneapolis to Mississippi and everywhere in between.

Of course, ISU is heavily engaged with the 2017 class as well, as they have over 20 open offers extended for the time being.

For more on the team’s recruiting chart, reference this one.

Next: 10 best National Championship finishes in history

If all this seems complicated, keep in mind that it is just one facet of Iowa State for next season. No matter the names on the roster, the best offensive team in the Big 12 is likely to be a perimeter-focused team in 2016-17 with four award-winning guards slated to take the floor.

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