NCAA Basketball: Top 10 storylines of second week of 2022 offseason

1. Iowa State suffers a big setback with Tyrese Hunter entering the portal

The biggest team surprise this past season had to have been Iowa State, who went from winning two total games in the year prior to 22 wins and a Sweet 16 appearance under new head coach   T.J. Otzelberger and a whole new cast of players. The two stars of the team were leading scorer  Izaiah Brockington, as well as freshman point guard and former top-100 prospect, Tyrese Hunter.

Although Brockington was gone, the team did land a pair of solid transfers in Temple guard  Jeremiah Williams, as well VCU forward Hason Ward. However, they won’t have Hunter around, as the playmaker has opted to enter the transfer portal.

Hunter averaged 11.0 ppg and 4.9 apg but played a major role on both sides of the ball for the Cyclones and was set to be a national breakout candidate. He’s a future NBA Draft candidate and likely wasn’t going to be around for four years but now won’t be in Ames for one second longer.

Hunter joins the likes of Kendric Davis, Yuri Collins, Nigel Pack, and Jahmir Young as the top available ball-handlers in the NCAA Basketball transfer portal. He’ll certainly end up among the top-tier programs looking for a point guard but let’s see if he’ll have the ball in his hands as much at stop No. 2.

As for Iowa State, they’re going to have a tough time getting back to 20 wins next season. But the same thing was said last offseason about their roster filled with transfers and they went on to make the NCAA Tournament. Let’s see if the program is up to the task again.