Iowa State Basketball: Outlook after Tyrese Haliburton departure

Tyrese Haliburton is likely off to the NBA after declaring for the 2020 NBA Draft on Tuesday. What’s next for Iowa State Basketball?

The inevitable still stung Iowa State Basketball on Tuesday when star guard Tyrese Haliburton made his intentions clear: he was going to cut his collegiate career short and head off to the NBA. He relayed the news to ESPN, who in turn relayed the news to eager draftniks sniffing the mock draft lottery waters.

Haliburton’s departure was far from unexpected. He’s expected to go in the lottery of the 2020 NBA Draft, whenever it takes place. The likely lack of a pre-draft process should only help the guard remain in his lofty position. During his sophomore season, Haliburton averaged 15.2 points, 6.5 assists, 5.9 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game before fracturing his wrist, ending a disappointing season for the Cyclones.

It’s hard to see Iowa State improving without Haliburton, which is problematic for a team that went 12-20 overall and 5-13 in Big 12 play in the 2019-20 season. So what’s the early read on the Cyclones going forward?

Rasir Bolton will be the undisputed star of the team in 2020-21. The rising junior and former Penn State transfer is the only other player to average at least ten points this season, averaging 14.7 points per game. He’ll be asked to take on a big portion of the scoring load.

Forward Javan Johnson will become eligible after sitting out this season following his transfer from Troy. During his sophomore season, he averaged 10.4 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, so he should be ready to make an immediate impact.

Still, there’s something amiss in Ames. Steve Prohm’s 2019 recruiting class was far from elite, ranked No. 56 in the nation by 247 Sports. But it was still expected to make an impact beginning next season. Instead, only Tre Jackson, who averaged 4.3 points per game, remains after the other three members of the class transferred out.

That puts even more pressure on the Class of 2020, ranked No. 22 in the country. The jewel of the class is 7-foot center Xavier Foster, who picked the Cyclones over the team’s in-state rivals, the Hawkeyes. Foster will be the only true center on the roster, so he’ll be expected to start contributing immediately.

Nevertheless, there’s much to be worried about for the Cyclones. A core of Bolton, Johnson, Foster and rising senior Solomon Young will be better than expected, but it will still rank near the bottom of the Big 12. Prohm is going to have to mine the graduate transfer marketplace when things return to normal, lest he start the season without a full roster of rotational pieces.

Giving Prohm some benefit of the doubt after a bad season is necessary. It’s hard to overstate the impact of departures for the program, with Georges Niang, Abdel Nader, Monte Morris, Naz Mitrou-Long, Matt Thomas, Deonte Burton, Marial Shayok, Lindell Wigginton and Talen Horton-Tucker all hanging around the NBA or G League.

But this was Prohm’s second losing season in three years and 2020-21 might not go any better for the Cyclones. Prohm is on the hot seat going forward.

The outlook for the Cyclones is not a great one entering next season. The team should be able to hang around in a lot of games and maybe even fight their way to a .500 record. It’s hard to imagine them making the NCAA Tournament, though.