Somebody told me in passing the other day that Johnny Orr was going to get a sports bar for donors made in Hilton Coliseum. To be honest, I thought that was kind of a crap tribute, not much more meaningful than the banner hanging in the rafters. A lot of people were wanting to put his name on the floor, so I thought it was a disappointment.

But then I did some poking online, and I saw that the tribute also includes a statue, made by the same company that did the Jordan statue outside the United Center, in the Hilton concourse area as well.

Honestly, I think it is pretty neat all in all. Yeah, his name won't be on the court for the TV cameras to pick up, but everybody that goes to Hilton will know the name Johnny Orr, from now on. People need to remember: incoming freshmen were born in 1992. They aren't going to know Johnny Orr, unless they are a basketball buff.

Plus, I saw a quote saying that Orr cried when he heard the news. If the man is happy with the tribute, we should all be just as happy for him.

I care much less about randoms watching ISU on TV knowing who Johnny Orr was and what he meant to ISU, than I do ISU fans knowing. If there is somebody out there and they claim to be an ISU basketball fan, but don't know Johnny Orr, that's an epic fail, especially after this gets in there.

It sounds like all of this will be ready for conference play in January, and it was not affected by the flooding. I cannot wait!

What is up everybody? I went dark there for a few days, from the night of the NBA draft until tonight. I am on vacation so I'm making this brief, but wanted to get something on here about the NBA draft. Here are my quick thoughts:

• I'm happy that Craig Brackins went in the first round. He worked hard in workouts, and many teams apparently were interested in him. Craig should be getting about $1 to $1.1 million/year for the next two years guaranteed with team options in year three and four. Either way, the guy is going to be a millionaire, and should be on a NBA roster for at least the next couple of years.
• I'm not sure what I think about Brackins on the Hornets, however. With the team possibly dealing Chris Paul, they may continue to struggle for a while. At the same time, having players like Okafur, Collison, David West, etc., are still a younger nucleus. It will be interesting to see how he does.
• The polarizing Wesley Johnson is going to be making about $3 million/year over the same time period. I'm not a Wesley Johnson hater. I hate the way the guy left ISU, but by going to a better team, and doubling his earnings potential over the first part of his contract, it's hard to fault the guy to an extent. I don't think there's anyway a guy goes in the Top 5 in a McDermott-led team had he stayed here. He would have been like Brackins last year, going in the 10-20 range. Good cash, but not Top 5 kind of cash. Most guys don't play college basketball to represent a school. They play college basketball hoping to go to the NBA, using college basketball as a vehicle to get there. Very few guys grow up hoping to be a Cyclone, and most out of the state don't know anything about Iowa State. Remember, the years 2000 and 2001, most of the prospects now were 8 or 9 at the time. Can you remember who went to the Elite 8 when you were 8?
  
• Tiny Gallon and Willie Warren got the worst advice regarding the draft. Who leaves as much eligibility on the table, when you aren't a lock for the First Round?
  
• Lastly, I'm not surprised Gilstrap didn't get drafted, but getting the summer league contract really isn't that much different than getting picked in the 2nd round. Remember, the 2nd round doesn't offer any guaranteed money, and often times these guys don't make the final roster anyways. Gilstrap is going to be in Charlotte, hoping to make the team. I think we'll see Gilstrap overseas (if he's willing to go there) or in the D-League.
  

Again, my apologies for not getting anything up here earlier. What were your thoughts on the draft?

Well, the time is almost here. Thursday night marks the date that Cyclone Fans will see which NBA team selects Craig Brackins in the NBA Draft. Here's a quick rundown of where the experts think he will fall:

• Chad Ford (ESPN) has Brackins going at #26 to the Thunder. He has Craig at #21 among prospects, however.
• Yahoo! has Brackins going #20 to the Spurs.
• NBADraft.net has Brackins going #22 to Portland.
• Insidehoops.com has Brackins at #26 to the Thunder as well.
• SI.com has Brackins going outside of the First Round

Other than SI.com, this is good news for Craig. Just a couple months ago, he was going in the first half of the second round. Anywhere in the first round in my mind is good for him. He gets that guaranteed cash, gets to spend a few years on the team.

As far as how Craig will do in the NBA, the jury is out on that. I have watched a lot of NBA, and although I'm not an expert on draft prospects, I wonder how he will do. I think it boils down to how consistent he can hit that jumper. The guy isn't going to be playing 30 minutes a game out the gate. He's going to need to be productive in short stretches to get playing time in the NBA. I could see him spending some time in the D-League. There are handfuls of guys from the first round that went last year. Heck, the #2 overall pick last year spent some time there. Either way good for Craig. The guy worked hard, and looks like he has a solid chance in getting rewarded.

For those wanting to watch it, I believe it's on ESPN, this Thursday at 7pm Eastern/6pm Central.

It's been a little over a month since Fred Hoiberg has been named head coach for the Cyclones, and the Mayor's homecoming has not been without its speedbumps. LaRon Dendy and Antwon Oliver chose to leave the program of their own volition. Charles Boozer ran afoul of the law and came to a mutual decision with Hoiberg to leave the program. What is left is a basketball team that brings reminders of the Indiana Hoosiers after the carnage of Kelvin Sampson, except with a couple of guys that remained in Diante Garrett, Scott Christopherson and Jamie Vanderbeken.

It's a tough situation to step into, for sure.

But Coach Hoiberg has handled the transition in a manner that makes him look like a natural at the job.

Starting with his press conference, Hoiberg stressed continuity, while also offering a fresh start. He talked about the importance of keeping TJ Otzelberger on staff for both recruiting and player purposes. He talked about playing to the strengths of his players that were returning - from Garrett's ability to spread the floor to Vanderbeken's knack for hitting the three. For a fanbase that was tired of hearing about "one of the largest playbooks" in America, this was music to the collective ears of the Cyclone fanbase. It's often discussed whether or not Cyclone coaches "get it", in terms of the situation in Ames. Many feel that Gene Chizik, for example, didn't get it. But, it sure looks like Hoiberg got it from the start.

The retention of Otzelberger paid off in terms of keeping together what looked to be one of the most promising of Greg McDermott's recruiting classes at Iowa State. DeMarcus Phillips and Melvin Ejim both have a chance to contribute immediately, while Jordan Railey, Calvin Godfrey and Eric McKnight will both have an opportunity to earn major minutes from the outset as well. It's clear that while most Cyclone players didn't seem to relate all that well to McDermott, Otzelberger was one of the coaches that the players did seem to not wish ill upon. T.J. is an up-and-coming recruiter, and the fact that Hoiberg kept him from following his buddy to Creighton was a good start.

The coaching staff would also holdover Jeff Rutter and Cyclone legend Jeff Grayer. Rutter maintains another bit of carryover, while at the same time allowing for more continuity in terms of the operations part of running a basketball team. I have my doubts as to whether or not Grayer would have been hired by Hoiberg if he had not been picked up by McDermott to fill out the staff, but Jeff will work as a link to the past, as well as a possible connection to Detroit/Flint basketball circles.

But Hoiberg's best move yet may have just come public on Wednesday, thanks to Twitter.

The addition of Bobby Lutz to the coaching staff is an absolutely awesome move. In Lutz, Iowa State gets a guy that is legitimately qualified to hold the head coaching position as the number two assistant coach. Chances are his pay won't reflect that, though his severance package from Charlotte may help him to pay the bills. Lutz was assumed to be a lifer at Charlotte, but was let go after a 19-12 campaign this year that tailed off at the end of the season. Regardless, Hoiberg now has the sort of guy that he said he wanted at his press conference - a former head coach that can help him learn the ropes. If Lutz moves on in a year or two, that's fine. His job is to help teach Hoiberg how to be a coach. If he does a good job of that, he'll have his own head job back soon enough.

The new players keep rolling in as well. Chris Babb will join the team from Penn State, while Darion Anderson comes over from Northern Illinois and will retain immediate eligibility - a replacement for Boozer in the guard court, except with more actual talent. Babb will provide more veteran leadership in the backcourt after Garrett graduates. Both are no-brainer additions.

Even with the few things that have gone wrong since he took over, Hoiberg has shown that he has his finger on the pulse of the Cyclone program and the Cyclone fan base. He'll continue to get a lot of blind love until a tough 2010-2011 campaign is upon us. But until we have some wins and losses to judge him on, he's getting a passing grade so far. Love or hate the hiring process that landed CFH, it's hard not to be happy with how he's done so far. Keep making these right moves into the basketball season, Coach, and the love affair that the Cyclone Nation has with you will continue to grow.

I have no idea what the deal is. I can't say I'm surprised, but the timing is weird to me. With Dendy, there were rumors of academic issues, but it seems like if that were the case, this would have been news a week ago. I know his head hasn't been 100% about basketball in a while, but I would think he'd either quit or stay at ISU. A transfer is suprising. I guess I just don't get what has changed over the past few weeks.

Oliver has been rumored to leave for quite a while, dating to right before the season ended. I'm not sure how much sense it makes to transfer after burning your redshirt already. I guess the guy either wants to go JUCO, D2, or he wants to have only 3 years of eligibility. As far as basketball goes, I'm fine with this. There are better prospects in 2011 and 2012 anyhow. If you're a guard and are redshirting, I just don't think you were going to be all that good anyhow.

We've all been saying it for a while, but 2010 is a wash. We've got a new coach, new system, a young team, and a team with some of McDermott's players. I think 2011 may be the same case. Right now, this program is going to have to build for 2012, 2013, and 2014. These next couple of years is just all about laying the foundation so we can be optomistic. Basketball programs don't take as long to rebuild, but unless you're a hall-of-fame coach with crazy recrutiing ties, you aren't going to do it overnight.

Either way, Oliver and Dendy aren't down with The Mayor. Peace out!

The new additions to the Cyclones continue. Darion (Jake) Anderson, a guard out of Chicago, transfers from Northern Illinois, with 1 year of eligibility left. While Anderson did struggle offensively at times for the Huskies last year (particularly from beyond the arc), he had a DR% of 18% last year, which is pretty high for a guard. He would have been the third best defensive rebounder last year at that rate.

Overall, I think this a great move for the Cyclones. Having lost Boozer, the Cyclones need more guard depth coming off the bench. Anderson is the 6th new addition for the Cyclones. The Cyclones now have 12 scholarships filled for 2010, with one scholarship open. They have the option of banking it, trying to find yet another player, or giving a scholarship to Palo. Personally, I'd rather they bank the scholarship, but we will see. This weekend, I will upload a new scholarship chart that shows how it all looks.

You can read more about Anderson here. He sounds like a guy who really wants to make an impact and help the younger teammates get going.

Rounding out a busy Cyclones newsday, Fred Hoiberg and his staff has landed Penn State Guard Chris Babb. Babb just finished his sophomore year, started 23 of the 31 games he played in this past year. He averaged about 9 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists, in about 30 minutes per game.

The guy is mostly an outside shooter, having taken about 79% of his attempts from beyond the arc. He's a good free throw shooter (81% last year),  something the Cyclones could use more of, but the minus-side is when you're taking a lot of outside shots, you don't get to the line much.

Statistically, I think his production will be similar to Lucca's but with more ability to drive, and better rebounding ability.  He looks more athletic than Lucca was. If one looks at his game log from 2010, you see games where he's scoring in double digits, even in the 20s, and others where he's scoring 0 or 2/3 points. I haven't seen him play, as I didn't watch any Penn State basketball this past year, but from reading online, he seems capable of engineering some runs if he can get in a groove.

Babb is originally a native from Arlington, TX. He was a 3 star recruit (per Rivals), and was originally offered by Penn State, Iowa, Iowa State, Bradley, Oral Roberts, Illinios State, South Alabama, and TCU. 

Because of transfer rules, Babb will have to redshirt the 2010-11 season, and will have 2 years of eligibilty from the 2011-12 season and onward.

It's amazing what a 40-inch vertical can do for a guy. Just 12 days ago, the concensus is that Brackins was a early to mid second round pick. Everybody from Chad Ford at ESPN to Draftexpress.com had Brackins in the top 40-50 range.

After the lottery, Chad Ford, along with most sites, updated their mock drafts, and Chad Ford now has Craig Brackins sitting at #25 to the Memphis Grizzlies (go to ESPN Insider to see the whole breakdown). It doesn't surprise me too much that Ford has him going higher, as he really was impressed by Brackins' showing on the vertical leap, and he let it be known on Twitter. But to move a guy 17 spots is still a big leap. He's probably the biggest mover on the draft board in general at this point. But I haven't been following all of the prospects so I don't know.

Most of the other mock draft sites have updated their projections as well, but still have Brackins sitting in the Top 40 or so.

Nbadraft.net had the next highest spot, with Brackins going #31 to New Jersey, the first pick in the second round.  And actually, despite not getting that guarenteed cash, New Jersey isn't a bad place to go: they're a bad team now, so there will be ample opportunities to prove one's self, as opposed to getting drafted late in the first round by the Lakers or Magic or a contending type of a team like that.

The opinions are still mixed, but it appears that he's now in that late first-early second round kind of a range, as opposed to being firmly in the second round. As for Gilstrap, he isn't registering anywhere, so I would expect to see him be undrafted, sign a free agent deal to try to make a team over the summer, and if that didn't pan out, to go to Europe or the D-League and go from there.

There's still a lot of time for the stock to change for these guys, as the actual draft happens on June 24th. It's just nice to see Brackins' stock rise, after giving up millions to come back and play another year at ISU. I really do hope it goes well for him, and he doesn't regret the decision to come back in retrospect.