2019 ISU Men's Basketball Tab

Ames Tribune

Sunday, November 3

IOWA STATE MEN’S BASKETBALL PREVIEW

The making of Tyrese Haliburton’s basketball spirit SEE PAGE 3

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IOWA STATE MEN’S BASKETBALL PREVIEW | Sunday, November 3, 2019

TABLE OF CONTENTS  Page 3: The making of Tyrese Haliburton’s basketball spirit  Page 4: Iowa State men’s basketball roster  Page 6: Schedule  Page 8: Michael Jacobson’s emergence from ‘everyday guy’ to Cyclone cornerstone  Page 9: Non-con slate and Big 12 strength make Cyclones’ schedule ‘great’  Page 10: Big 12 Preview

Surprises the story of these Cyclones I

t’s rare for all but the elite programs to essentially flip over an entire roster and actually have significant expectations remain.

Iowa State may be a tier below elite, but with four Big 12 tournament championships in six seasons, seven NCAA tournaments in eight and the reasonable belief they’ll be back in the Big Dance this spring, the Cyclones aren’t too far off, either.

Coach Steve Prohm lost two NBA draft picks in Marial Shayok and Talen Horton-Tucker along with a third player, Lindell Wigginton, who spent a training camp with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Gone, too, is do-everything guard Nick Weiler-Babb, highlytalented-but-troubled Cameron Lard and useful reserve Zoran Talley from last year’s incredibly talented-if-underachieving group.

Luckily for Prohm, though, Tyrese Haliburton is back, no longer a no-name three-star recruit, but a serious NBA draft prospect. He’ll be joined in the backcourt by a pair of transfers in Prentiss Nixon (Colorado State) and Rasir Bolton (Penn State), whose immediate-eligibility filled a huge perimeter scoring void for the Cyclones and has elevated the ceiling for the entire team.

Up front, Michael Jacobson moves to power forward after a productive junior season starting at center as Solomon Young returns from injury and George Conditt IV

TRAVIS HINES Ames Tribune comes back with inflated expectations.

The pieces that could help but are unproven include junior Terrence Lewis, who hasn’t been able to make a dent in his two seasons, and sophomore Zion Griffin, who has been a summer standout after a freshman year spent mostly dealing with injuries. Freshmen guards Tre Jackson and Caleb Grill have generated some buzz as well.

ISU expects to have a

different look this season beyond just the new faces, as Prohm intends to utilize two forwards on the floor rather than the four-guard lineups that have been a staple in recent years. How the Cyclones adjust to maximize their roster will go a long way in determining how successful things are this winter.

This season, though, will be about surprises.

Like Haliburton’s emergence as a star. Like Jacobson’s move from afterthought to starter. Like a schedule that will offer major tests.

There’s lots to like about these Cyclones, but there is even more to find out about them.

IOWA STATE MEN’S BASKETBALL PREVIEW | Sunday, November 3, 2019

3

The making of Tyrese Haliburton’s basketball spirit

By Travis Hines, Sports Editor thines@amestrib.com

Tyrese Haliburton was kicked out of practice.

The kid known for his smile and affable demeanor had instead been pouting.

The coaching staff at Oshkosh North High School simply had seen enough from their freshman.

“He has a tendency to get consumed by his own mind, and it would produce this negative energy,” Brad Weber told the Ames Tribune. “We had conversations about how people feed off him, and when it’s positive, we’re great, but when he gets negative … his negativity and frustration with himself would obviously influence us.

“So there was a practice where he got kicked out. We just weren’t getting through to him that he had to be able to carry himself in a more positive manner when things weren’t going well.”

So there in Weber’s office Haliburton sat, stewing.

“It was kind of that he had hit that low point and something’s got to change here,” Weber, then an assistant and now the head coach at Oshkosh North, said. “So we kind of started

to produce a plan on what he could do and focus on when things weren’t going his way.”

That plan turned out to be a useful one.

Haliburton blossomed from a frustrated freshman to a state-champion senior.

Beyond that, he became an overlooked Division I recruit to an international gold medalist and NBA draft prospect.

The Iowa State sophomore has done it undoubtedly with the physical gifts of a lengthy, 6-foot-5 guard and the skillset that helped him shoot 43.4 percent from 3-point range and break the ISU single-game record for assists with 17 one December night.

There’s more, though, that has powered Haliburton to these heights.

“He has an unbelievable spirit and an unbelievable presence about him,” ISU coach Steve Prohm said. “He can’t lose that. That’s the biggest thing.

“If he does that, he’ll be fine.”

• • • It was clear from an early age that basketball was something Haliburton would pursue with vigor.

The sport was ever-present

in his family, and his father, John, is a referee.

That meant Haliburton got a headstart on learning the game.

“I was going to basketball camp for first graders at preschool age,” Tyrese said.

So Haliburton was on the radar early, but it wasn’t until just before he reached high school that those in his basketball orbit saw the aura that would come to define him.

“He always was a kid, from an athletic standpoint, from a skill standpoint that would stand out,” Weber said, “but that personality you get to see on the court, in interviews, that really started to bloom in middle school.

“He started to become a little more comfortable with what else he can bring to the table versus just putting the ball in the basket.”

That personality was there on the court, but it almost became a doubleedged sword for Haliburton early in his high school career, when competing against older players inevitably begat some struggles.

Continued on page 4

Iowa State’s Tyrese Haliburton averaged 6.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 33.2 minutes per game after moving into the starting lineup follwoing an injury to Lindell Wigginton. PHOTO BY NIRMALENDU MAJUMDAR/AMES TRIBUNE

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IOWA STATE MEN’S BASKETBALL PREVIEW | Sunday, November 3, 2019

IOWA STATE MEN’S BASKETBALL ROSTER

PG 22 Tyrese Haliburton, So., 6’5, 175 LBS A three-star recruit who is now an NBA draft prospect.

PF 12 Michael Jacobson, Sr., 6’9, 240 LBS After starting every game at center last year, moving to PF this season.

SG 11 Prentiss Nixon, Sr., 6’2, 188 Nixon LBS Colorado State transfer expected to anchor the perimeter defense.

2 Caleb Grill, Fr., 6’3, 192 LBS Late addition who became a hot recruiting commodity over the summer

3 Tre Jackson,

15 Carter Boothe, So., 6’1, 199 LBS Walk-on from Central Decatur

4 George Conditt IV, So., 6’10, 223 LBS Shot-blocker

expected to take a major leap in Year 2

C 33 Solomon Young, Jr., 6’8, 242 Young LBS Missed last year with injuries, but healthy and expected to contribute now.

SF 45 Rasir Bolton, So., 6’3, 183 LBS Immediate eligibility after Penn State transfer raised expectations for ISU.

24 Terrence Lewis, Jr., 6’6, 205 LBS Will try to crack

10 Marcedus Leech Jr., Fr., 6’5, 165 LBS A broken leg as a prep made him an underthe-radar recruit

23 Nate Schuster, So., 6’4, 187 LBS Walk-on from Menomee Falls, Wis.

25 Eric Steyer, So., 6’5, 170 LBS Walk-on from Ames

34 Nate Jenkins, 6’2, 199 LBS Walk-on from Delafield, Wis.

0 Zion Griffin, 6’6, 217 LBS Garnered huge praise for improvement

1 Luke Anderson, Fr. 6’7, 212 LBS A three-star recruit from Florida

13 Javan Johnson, Jr., 6’6. 195 LBS Sitting out this season after transfering from Troy

Fr., 6’1, 176 LBS Maybe the most collegeready of ISU’s 2019 recruiting class

after injuryplayed freshman season

the lineup for the first time in Year 3

Continued from page 3

“His freshman year, probably a low point for him,” Weber said.

“There were some pretty humbling moments for him during practices.”

So when his teammates saw the always-outgoing Haliburton retreat into himself, it meant not only would Haliburton struggle, so, too, would they.

“When things weren’t going his way and he didn’t have that charisma and outgoing positivity, that influences everybody,” Weber said. “You love playing with him because of the energy he gives you, and when that’s not there, everyone is sitting there thinking, ‘Well, what’s up? Is he mad at me? Did I do something wrong?’

“So not only do we lack that energy in that environment, but now people are starting to wonder why isn’t it that way?”

• • • After playing two years in the Big Ten and a third practicing with ISU as a sit-out transfer from Nebraska, Michael Jacobson had seen some of the best players in the country. He’d guarded them. Tried to score on them.

So a summer one-on-one contest with an unheralded freshman recruit with skinny arms didn’t seem too intimidating for him.

“I was looking at Tyrese like, ‘This guy isn’t very big, he’s rail thin,’” Jacobson recalled. “Then he made a move at the top of the key, and I remember I looked at him

like, ‘That’s different. That’s not a move a lot of freshmen make.’

“I knew then he was going to be fine.”

Haliburton moved into the starting lineup after Lindell Wigginton suffered a foot injury in the 2018-19 season opener, and he never relinquished the spot, going on to average 6.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 33.2 minutes per game. Those weren’t gaudy numbers, but on a team with two NBA draft picks, a G-League affiliate player and a senior point guard, they were more than good enough to stand out.

“Last year was the first year I probably wasn’t the best player on the team (in some time),” he said.

“I had a role. That’s what I had to buy into for us to be good and for me to play. I had to buy into that, which is what I did.

“When your role is decreasing, my ego’s not huge, so I don’t have a problem with getting four shots a game. I don’t have a problem not having many sets called for me. I didn’t really care as long as we won. I was just happy to be on the floor. This year, my role comes back up.”

So, too, do expectations.

“His role is drastically changing, and he knows that and I know that,” Prohm said. “There’s going to be some learning curves with that. We’ve got to be there and we’ve got to do a great job understanding that, recognizing that and seeing him through the peaks and valleys that’s going to happen.”

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IOWA STATE MEN’S BASKETBALL PREVIEW | Sunday, November 3, 2019

He’ll need thrive in that new role for ISU to live up to the expectations that have been built over the course of a wildly successful decade for the program.

Haliburton, frankly, is expected to be a star.

• • • Stars haven’t really been a part of Haliburton’s life.

He was given just three of them by recruiting services, making him, in many eyes, a fringe-type Big 12 player.

Those evaluators, though, were missing what the residents of an Oshkosh senior living facility saw.

“They didn’t really know who he was in the world of basketball,” Weber said, “but he would come in and the place would light up. It wasn’t the Tyrese the basketball player, it wasn’t Tyrese the Iowa State recruit.

“It was Tyrese, the kid who comes on Thursday to help us with technology. He has that personality.”

That personality, or “spirit” as Prohm calls it, manifested itself in more ways than brightening the days of the elderly.

It augmented the competitive spirit that boils beneath the surface for Haliburton.

“He’s going to do whatever the team needs to win,” Weber said. “When you get

on that AAU circuit, there are people out there when college coaches are in the stands that want to just go out and score. Ty was always the guy who wanted to go out and win.

“Sometimes I think the subtleties of his game on the AAU side might get overlooked if you weren’t doing your job.”

Prohm and his staff were, apparently, both paying attention and doing their job, becoming one of the few high-major schools to offer Haliburton early.

“If you get caught up in how high can he jump, points per game, what’s his weight - I think that’s where he got lost a little bit,” Weber said. “Coach Prohm and his staff were able to identify that every time they saw this kid, he’s winning. He is able to score, but he’s also able to do so many other things, but because of that completeness, sometimes that doesn’t jump out on a court to you when there are a lot of other really great athletes out there.

“The kid wants to win.

That’s his No. 1 goal every time he runs on the court.

Whatever those stats are, it’s what he feels the team needs to help win. I don’t think there are a lot of people out there that approach the game like

that, so I think that gets lost at times, especially in the recruiting world.”

• • • Haliburton isn’t hiding anymore.

He began showing up on NBA mock drafts after a strong showing at the Maui Invitational, one of the year’s most-attended events by NBA decisionmakers and evaluators.

With the departures of Marial Shayok, Nick Weiler-Babb, Talen HortonTucker and Lindell Wigginton, Haliburton is being thrust into the spotlight.

“Last year, I was really expected to do anything,” Haliburton said. “If I had a bad practice, I could just brush it off because you weren’t expecting me to anyways. Now, there’s not pressure on me from anybody that’s making my spirit not be what it needs to be at times, it’s from me.

“I know I have to be at a certain level for this team to be good and this team to be great. It kind of irritates me within myself when I’m not doing that.”

This, though, is not a new issue for Haliburton to solve. It’s a battle he’s winning, but, like any journey of self-improvement, the war is never totally won.

“How his college career is starting to progress is a

lot like his high school one was for us,” Weber said.

“The roles he had to serve as a freshman, sophomore vs. junior, senior for us is similar to what he’s seeing from freshman year to sophomore year.

“We’ve had some of those conversations already about managing those loads, and how do you manage the load when it’s increased minutes, increased pressure, increased media attention.

How do you manage the load of teammates? Making sure there’s not jealousies.”

What’s worked for Haliburton in the past, Weber said, is to keep his focus on those around him.

“The more he focuses on his teammates, the less he gets consumed by himself,” Weber said. “That was, I think, another big jump for him. When you get too focused on yourself, then all the little things start to bother you, but if you are worried about everybody else on your team, then you don’t have the luxury to dwell on missed shots.

“As he turned his focus externally versus internally, his game just started to flourish because he wasn’t putting as much pressure on himself or dwelling on some times he wasn’t successful because he was always focused on

other people.”

• • • The temptation to focus on yourself when there are potentially millions of dollars at stake would be an easy one to fall prey to.

Haliburton isn’t a nodoubt lottery or even firstround pick in 2020, but the path to that outcome is a clear one to divine.

The NBA loves his length and versatility. His game, should it continue to improve, fits the modern NBA. He’s a type of player that league covets.

Straying from who he is at his core - both as a basketball player and a person - would make following that path more difficult.

That was Prohm’s message to Haliburton and his parents when they met ahead of this season.

Prohm, who has guided multiple players to early NBA entries, did not want Haliburton to lose sight of what’s put him in this position.

“It’s about remembering who he is because his biggest strength is his spirit,” Prohm said. “He’s a really good basketball player, but that’s not what attracts people to him.

People are attracted to him because of his spirit.

“He has to have that spirit. That’s going to be the biggest challenge. His role is

changing. Can he keep that same spirit?”

History suggests he can.

“The one thing he has always been is humble, and credit his parents, John and Brenda, for doing a phenomenal job of always keeping him rooted,” Weber said.

“The kid never changed who he was (when recruiting picked up), and when coach Prohm talks about that spirit, that’s Ty’s being.

That’s who he is.

“All the pressure that’s going to be on him this year, he had on him last year, even though no one expected things out of him.

He’s always expected it out of himself.”

Always is just a slight exaggeration. Certainly before anyone else would have dreamed to think big about his basketball future.

“Since I was four, five years old, the plan has always been that this is going to be my life,” Haliburton said. “When I was little, you try to tell mom, ‘I’m going to be a professional basketball player.’ ‘Do something realistic,’ (she would say).

“But it’s real. It’s realistic for me. That’s always been the plan. I don’t really create a Plan B because I feel like if you don’t put enough effort into Plan A if you’ve got a Plan B. “That’s the plan.”

Nov. 5 MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE Nov. 9 at Oregon State Nov. 12 NORTHERN ILLINOIS Nov. 19 SOUTHERN MISS Nov. 27-29 Battle 4 Atlantis (Paradise Island, Bahamas)

Dec. 4 KANSAS CITY Dec. 8 SETON HALL Dec. 12 IOWA Dec. 22 PURDUE FORT WAYNE Dec. 31 FLORIDA A&M Jan. 4 at TCU Jan. 8 KANSAS Jan. 11 OKLAHOMA

Jan. 15 at Baylor Jan. 18 at Texas Tech Jan. 21 Oklahoma State Jan. 25 at Auburn Jan. 29 Baylor Feb. 1 at Texas Feb. 5 at West Virginia Feb. 8 KANSAS STATE Feb. 12 at Oklahoma

ART BY CARMEN CERRA/AMES TRIBUNE

Feb. 15 Texas Feb. 17 at Kansas Feb. 22 Texas Tech Feb. 26 TCU Feb. 29 at Okla. State March 3 West Virginia March 7 at Kansas State March 11-14 Big 12 tournament (Kansas City, Mo.)

2019-20 IOWA STATE MEN’S BASKETBALL

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IOWA STATE MEN’S BASKETBALL PREVIEW | Sunday, November 3, 2019

Michael Jacobson’s emergence from ‘everyday guy’ to Cyclone cornerstone

By Travis Hines, Sports Editor thines@amestrib.com

Michael Jacobson was, at least to most of the world outside the Sukup Basketball Complex, something of an afterthought heading into last season.

Any buzz about an impact transfer was directed toward Marial Shayok, who came over from Virginia after spending three seasons as a meaningful contributor to one of the country’s top programs. Jacobson, meanwhile was a bit player on two bad Nebraska teams before coming to Ames.

Plus, the Cyclones already had Cameron Lard and Solomon Young on the roster. Lard proved to be immensely athletic and talented in his freshman season while Young had been a two-year starter. Not to mention George Conditt IV, a 6-foot-10 freshman whom ISU was high on.

Surely, Jacobson would be at-best the third big in a program that typically only deployed one traditional big on the floor at a time.

“Probably when he walked on campus,” ISU coach Steve Prohm told the Ames Tribune, “you probably could have said that.”

By the time ISU tipped off its season, though, Jacobson was in the starting lineup, thanks both to circumstance and his own hard work.

“He earned the right regardless to be in that position,” Prohm said. “If you polled (the coaching staff), he earned that right.

“Regardless of all the mitigating circumstances because I knew in my heart we were going small the whole way. I knew that was a strength and be best for us, but he had earned that.

“He had worked, and he had earned it.”

It was Jacobson’s work during his sit-out season following his transfer from the Huskers that laid the groundwork for a breakout junior year that saw him start every single game and averaged 11.1 points and 5.9 rebounds.

“He got to increase his skill,” Prohm said. “He really

worked on his craft. You know what you’re going to get from him every day.

“He may miss shots, make shots, whatever it may be, but his effort is going to be really good. His toughness is going to be really good. As a coach, I know I respect that.”

It wasn’t just his offseason work that put Jacobson in a position to thrive, though.

Lard’s ability to build off his promising freshman year was curtailed in a major way when he was suspended

by Prohm for the month of November due to off-thecourt issues. Young, meanwhile, was eventually sidelined for the season when he suffered a groin muscle tear in October.

That put Jacobson in the starting lineup Nov. 6, in the opener against Alabama State, and it was a spot he occupied every game for the rest of the season.

“Sitting out, they didn’t know if I was going to play or what I was going to do,” Jacobson said. “It shook out really well for me last year.”

Jacobson provided stability in the middle and then leadership late when ISU’s season was slipping away with losses piling up and animosity boiling over in the last month before the Cyclones righted the ship long enough to win the Big 12 tournament.

“Mike brought a consistent effort every game,” sophomore Tyrese Haliburton said. “He was really big for us rebounding the ball.

We didn’t rebound really well last year, but he was probably the only guy really rebounding last year.

“If you go back and watch the Big 12 tournament, that Kansas State (semifinal), we’re not in that game without Mike Jacobson and we don’t win the Big 12 championship without Mike Jacobson.

“He meant a lot to us last year.”

However well Jacobson established himself last season, though, this year brings a new challenge.

A position change.

Jacobson, after spending his first three years of his career exclusively at center, is moving to power forward, a position that will test both his athleticism and his skill level.

“How can we help him and how can he make that adjustment there?” Prohm said. “He’s a guy that puts so much time in the gym. My biggest thing as a coach is if you’re going to put the time in, I’m going to trust you in those moments.

“I’m going to trust you with those shots, whether it’s from three, 17 feet, jump hooks. Whatever it may be.”

It’s Jacobson’s 3-point shooting that will be central to his offensive effectiveness in his new position.

Iowa State forward Michael Jacobson will be tasked with defending more perimeter-oriented players than he did last season. PHOTO BY NIRMALENDU MAJUMDAR/AMES TRIBUNE

He’ll be asked to take and make those shots to help space and stretch a defense.

If he can’t consistently make from there, it will allow defenses to help off him liberally, making it much more difficult for the ISU offense to operate.

After shooting 18 percent from 3-point range at Nebraska, Jacobson rocketed up to 34 percent last year.

There’s a little more to the story than the raw number, however.

Jacobson was fantastic in the first two months of the season from distance, shooting 45.5 percent. That plummeted to 18.2 percent in conference play, though.

“I don’t know what it was,” Jacobson said of the inconsistency. “It’s one of those things because in the non-con I shot like 40 percent. It balances it out, but this year, the main thing is I’m trying to be more consistent.

“I think 35 (percent) is a good spot for me, and if

I can get above that, I’ll be really happy.”

Defensively, Jacobson will be tasked with at times defending more perimeter-oriented players than the 6-foot-9, 230-pounder did last year at center. That means squaring up against quicker players and defending ballscreens potentially very differently with more dynamic switching.

All that means that despite becoming one of the foundational pieces for ISU last year, Jacobson can’t rest on his past achievements.

Not that he intends to.

“You’ve got to be hungry again this year,” he said. “I’m a new spot, so it’s something new again for me. I’m excited about it. I’m excited about the opportunity.

“I feel more comfortable as far as I’ve shown what I can do and I’ve shown I can work hard and what I can bring to the table, but it’s a new experience for me at the four and I’m just trying to stay hungry and chase dreams and goals.”

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IOWA STATE MEN’S BASKETBALL PREVIEW | Sunday, November 3, 2019

Non-con slate and Big 12 strength make Cyclones’ schedule ‘great’

By Travis Hines, Sports Editor

27-29

thines@amestrib.com

Iowa State doesn’t really have any scheduling concerns.

That’s the benefit of playing in a Big 12 that, thanks to its 10-school membership and historical strength in basketball, provides 18 games of high-level competition that gives the Cyclones and the league’s nine other teams the NCAA tournament ammo that separates bubble teams and seed lines.

The conference’s roundrobin schedule and lack of a truly-terrible bottom that plagues 14-team leagues like the Big Ten, SEC and ACC has helped ISU have a strength of schedule rated as a top-10 toughest in four of the last six years by KenPom.com, a college basketball statistics site. ISU has ranked in the top-25 in each of the last six years.

The Cyclones need much in the way of a challenging non-conference slate to set themselves up for having enough of the Quadrant 1 and 2 wins that fuel inclusion in the tournament and boost teams to a better seed and easier path.

They’re going to, though.

“It’s probably the best we’ve had since we’ve been

20 19

M I C H I GA N

GAME 1

Loser Game 1

WED. 11/27 12:00 PM EST ESPN

GAME 7 THUR. 11/28

6:30 PM EST

I OWA STAT E

ESPN2 or ESPNU

Winner Game 7

Loser Game 2

Winner Game 1

GAME 5 THUR. 11/28

1:30 PM EST ESPN or ESPN2

UNC

GAME 2

Winner Game 2

Winner Game 5

WED. 11/27 2:30 PM EST

ESPN or ESPN2

GAME 10

GAME 11 FRI. 11/29 7:00 PM EST ESPN2 or ESPNU

A L A BA M A

FRI. 11/29 2:00 PM EST

G O N ZAGA

Championship Game

ESPN

GAME 3

Winner Game 8

Loser Game 3

GAME 8 THUR. 11/28 9:00 PM EST

WED. 11/27 7:00 PM EST ESPNU

Winner Game 3

GAME 6 SOUTHERN MISS

THUR. 11/28 4:00 PM EST

S E TO N H A L L

Winner Game 4

GAME 4

WED. 11/27 9:30 PM EST ESPN2

GAME 11

O R EG O N

FRI. 11/29

11:30 AM EST ESPN or ESPN 2

Loser Game 8

here,” fifth-year ISU coach Steve Prohm said.

ISU’s raised-bar scheduling benefits from the Big 12’s interconference scheduling agreements with the Big East and SEC as well as the Cyclones’ inclusion in highest-tier non-conference tournaments.

This year, the Cyclones will face preseason No. 12 Seton Hall and Auburn, who made the Final Four last season, in those scheduling alliances. ISU also independently scheduled

Loser Game 5

GAME 9

GAME 12

FRI. 11/29 FRI.PM 11/23 9:30 EST 7:00orPM EST ESPN2 ESPNU or ESPNEWS

Winner Game 6

ESPN or ESPN2

ESPN2

Loser Game 4

Loser Game 7

CHAMPION

Loser Game 6

a home-and-home series with Oregon State, which will host the Cyclones this November in the first year of the agreement.

“Will be a tough venue over there,” Prohm said of the trip to Corvallis.

Perhaps the single-biggest development in recent years, though, is ISU’s inclusion in the premier multiteam events (MTEs). This year, the Cyclones will head to Paradise Island in the Bahamas to play in the Battle 4 Atlantis, perhaps

the second-best regarded MTE behind only the Maui Invitational, which hosted ISU last year for the first time.

“I think the industry has kind of changed,” ISU athletic director Jamie Pollard told the Ames Tribune about MTEs. “We’re better, and secondly, that process, when ESPN took it over, it became less about what coach knew who, and now it’s a business.

“And we travel so well.

So we’re a good draw for

somebody to have in those events.”

The Battle 4 Atlantis this season features No. 8 Gonzaga, No. 9 North Carolina, No. 12 Seton Hall and No. 15 Oregon along with ISU, Michigan, Southern Miss and Alabama.

“I tell everybody, the reason we get in the MTEs,” ISU director of basketball operations Micah Byars, who has coordinated ISU’s scheduling for seven years, said, “I’m the same guy that would call them when I was at other institutions - they pick up a lot quicker when your fans travel the way ours do.

“Because of the visibility of our program and the way our fans buy tickets, it’s made it easier to get into those. You know you’re going to be playing Quad-1 and Quad-2 teams in all of those events.”

One of the more interesting pieces of ISU’s schedule is what isn’t on it. For the second-straight year, ISU is not playing an exhibition game, opting instead to play two closed-door scrimmages against fellow highmajor opponents Minnesota and Wisconsin rather than a lower-division opponent in front of a full Hilton Coliseum.

“From a fan standpoint, because we were charging full price for that ticket,” Pollard said, “so I’m sure there are fans that are glad that’s not part of it.”

For the team, it affords an opportunity to get a clear-eyed look at where they stand against similar competition before the season starts - and without outside judgemental eyes on the performances.

“It’s good not to play an exhibition game,” sophomore point guard Tyrese Haliburton said, “where there are people there and it’s kind of pointless at times where we can use this and build from it and see what we’ve got to fix.”

While ISU loaded up with a difficult non-conference slate, that’s simply an augmentation to the true foundation of its schedule Big 12 play.

“This league has been the best league in the country the last six years,” Prohm said. “I think this league, when you look at guys returning and what people have brought in, it’s as good as the league’s been, especially the top teams.”

That leaves a single conclusion.

“We’ve got a great, great schedule,” Prohm said.

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IOWA STATE MEN’S BASKETBALL PREVIEW | Sunday, November 3, 2019

1. Kansas (8)

2. Baylor (1)

3. Texas Tech (1)

4. Texas

5. West Virginia

OUTLOOK: The Jayhawks look like a national title contender with Devon Dotson and Udoka Azubuike somewhat surpringsly returning to school after Kansas’ 14-year Big 12 title streak was snapped last season.

OUTLOOK: With Tristan Clark back from injury and just about everyone back from last year’s core, coach Scott Drew looks to have one of his strongest teams in recent memory in Waco and a true conference contender.

OUTLOOK: The Red Raiders were supposed to take a step back last year, but instead were Big 12 co-champs and the national ruuners-up. It’ll be a difficult task to repeat this season, but coach Chris Beard has established himself as elite on the sideline.

OUTLOOK: Shaka Smart is on shaky ground in Austin after four years of so-so results that don’t match up to the huge expectations he brought with him from VCU. The Longhorns have some interesting pieces this season, but lack the high-end talent they’ve had in recent years.

OUTLOOK: Until a nice little surge at the Big 12 tournament, West Virginia’s season went about as poorly as you could imagine, with a “miserable” Bob Huggins stacking losses and booting players from the program. Things should be better this year, but whether wins follow remain to be seen.

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IOWA STATE MEN’S BASKETBALL PREVIEW | Sunday, November 3, 2019

6. Oklahoma State

7. Iowa State

8. Oklahoma

9. Kansas State

10. TCU

OUTLOOK: It’s easy to see a scenario in which the Cowboys are the surprise team in the Big 12, with their entire starting five returning a top recruiting class coming in. It could be a very interesting season in Stillwater.

OUTLOOK: Tyrese Haliburton is a budding star while the Cyclones got a major boost with Penn State transfer Rasir Bolton getting an immediate-eligibility waiver. How they navigate playing a new style with fewer guards and a lot of new faces will determine their success.

OUTLOOK: Lon Kruger is one of the best coaches in the country that doesn’t get talked about a lot, but this season his Sooners could be looking at a talent deficiency that keeps them stuck near the bottom of the league standings.

OUTLOOK: The Wildcats went to the Elite 8 in 2018 and were Big 12 co-champs last year, but it’s a new era with Barry Brown, Kamau Stokes and Dean Wade moving on. Xavier Sneed could emerge as one of the conference’s best.

OUTLOOK: Jamie Dixon flirted with the UCLA opening until his large buyout reportedly became a road block, and the Horned Frogs suffered a rash of transfers.

That puts them in the cellar.