Iowa State basketball: Hans Brase commits to Cyclones

Iowa State basketball reeled in another commitment today. This time from Princeton forward Hans Brase.

Things have been middling for Iowa State basketball this spring, but have picked up in recent weeks. The Cyclones grabbed another piece of the puzzle for next year when reports confirmed Hans Brase would call Ames his home for the 2017-2018 season.

He ultimately chose the Cyclones over schools including Georgia Tech and Richmond. This is potentially big for a team looking to add outside pop to its offense for next season.

The former Tiger is listed at 6’9″, 235. He averaged 6.4 points and 2.8 rebounds in 2016-2017 while only playing five games due to a knee injury. That came on top of missing the entire 2015-2016 season with an ACL tear. Otherwise, Brase has averaged 9.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 35% from deep for his career.

Brase’s build and production are perfect for a pick-and-pop offense. He has the stature to screen guys out front and then jump off the screen to shoot a three over a smaller defender if opponents switch on said screen. Some folks are comparing Brase to former Cyclone big Jamie Vanderbeeken with better defense. He could ultimately function as a very poor man’s Georges Niang in terms of versatility; he does have a 1.7 career assist per game average compared to Niang’s 3.1.

I see Brase as a key guy off the bench. He could probably start, but his injury history leads me to think his minute average is somewhere around 15-18 per game. He is, at worst, a high-character guy coming from an Ivy League institution that can play a valuable depth role. Just don’t expect many dominating performances.

Next: Top 10 transfers part II

Iowa State has just one more scholarship to fill for next season after Brase’s commitment. Look for ISU to use that on a sit-out transfer or a JUCO guy for 2017-2018.