1. It was a pretty good effort.
It was the kind of game that, in an average season, would constitute a solid day for the Cyclones. Playing a team as good as Oklahoma as close as Iowa State played them, and on Oklahoma’s floor, isn’t bad. It’s just that in this particular season, the hole’s gotten pretty deep, so near misses, paradoxically, feel more like a letdown than the blowouts sometimes.
2. The inside game wasn’t there.
Solomon Young getting sixteen shots from the floor is a good thing. Solomon Young having his least efficient game of the year is a bad thing.
It was disappointing these things happened in conjunction. It stinks that a few more finishes from Young could’ve swung the game. But it’s also hard to be upset with Young about it. The guy’s done a lot of carrying of ISU this year on the offensive end. These nights happen.
3. The one-and-done thing only works if you get one-and-dones.
Iowa State hasn’t been a one-and-done program, but they’ve operated a bit like one, often relying on talent—recruits or transfers—making quick stays. Lindell Wigginton and Talen Horton-Tucker, the two most heralded recruits of Steve Prohm’s tenure, left after two years and one year, respectively. Tyrese Haliburton and Marial Shayok, the most productive players brought to the program under Prohm, were, likewise, only with the program for two years and one year, respectively.
I mentioned Prohm’s buyout this morning. I don’t know if Iowa State should consider firing Prohm. There are cases to be made both ways. But I’m curious if they will. Without the cushion of buy games, and in a year in which the Big 12 is deep even by its own strong standards, there isn’t a lot to hide behind. The futility, momentary or otherwise, is on display.
Tyrese Hunter, who will join the program next year, is a good player. He shouldn’t be expected to be program-saving good, though. Especially not on his own. And if he is, there needs to be another of him waiting, because he’ll probably only be in Ames for one or two seasons.
At the end of it, I land narrowly on the side of retaining Prohm. His recruiting has been successful, but sporadic, with some weird misses once the players are within the program (and I should specify that this isn’t unusual in college basketball, in which my impression is that it’s harder to project talent than it is in football). His on-court success has been limited, but in those first two years he did a comparable job to Fred Hoiberg with the roster Fred Hoiberg gave him, and he built a successful team of his own in 2019—one that won the Big 12 tournament and finished the year 15th in KenPom (which is actually better than where any of Hoiberg’s teams finished). It’s not clear Iowa State has a better option than Prohm at the moment, and the buyout’s sizable enough, and this year’s been weird enough, that he’s probably worth at least one more season, even if Iowa State does, indeed, lose out this year.
Thankfully, if they play like they did today, they won’t lose out. Especially if Solomon Young puts better nights together. Which history says is guaranteed.
