College basketball coaches are reluctant to accept praise after a defeat, and Iowa State’s Greg McDermott didn’t know how to take all those pats on the back after his Cyclones took visiting Kansas into overtime Saturday.
McDermott deserved every handshake. Kansas, fifth in this week’s Associated Press poll, trailed for much of the second half against an Iowa State squad with five newcomers in its eight-player rotation.
“(Iowa State) made us play the way we didn’t want to play,” Kansas coach Bill Self said Monday during the weekly Big 12 coaches’ teleconference with the media.
Of the league’s six first-year coaches, McDermott might have raised the most eyebrows thus far.
McDermott arrived at ISU on March 21, already late in the recruiting game. His efforts to scramble for players would be delayed further. McDermott didn’t know whether roster spots would become available until well into April – after junior guards Curtis Stinson and Will Blalock declared for the 2006 NBA draft and Shawn Taggert and Tasheed Carr bolted, to Memphis and St. Joseph’s, respectively.
Iowa State and Colorado began the season with the fewest proven players, and they’ll meet Wednesday night in Boulder. Whereas CU continues to struggle, McDermott has his Cyclones (11-6, 2-1) in the upper tier of the Big 12 standings.
“Whether this is a surprise in anybody’s eyes is up to them,” McDermott said. “What’s important to me is our guys continue to work hard. They are buying into the system a little bit better and buying into each other.”
McDermott guided Northern Iowa, his alma mater, to the NCAA Tournament in each of the past three seasons. He earned a reputation for crafty X’s and O’s. But there is always some doubt about whether a former mid-major coach can recruit well enough to compete in a power conference. Considering what McDermott was able to accomplish in a short time last spring, Big 12 opponents must wonder if he already has begun building a monster.
The Cyclones rely heavily on two late pickups. McDermott found 6-foot-2 guard Mike Taylor last spring at a junior college in Florida. Taylor ranks among the Big 12 scoring leaders (16.7) and also contributes 4.4 assists per game. Wesley Johnson, a 6-7 freshman forward, averages 12.2 points and somehow ranks second (9.0) among Big 12 rebounders despite carrying just 195 pounds.
Taylor is the reigning Big 12 newcomer of the week. Johnson earned that honor last week.
McDermott got lucky in finding Johnson, a Texan who had enrolled in 2005 at a Michigan prep school that later closed. Johnson spent last winter working out on his own while living with a brother in Detroit.
“I think a lot of (recruiters) forgot where Wesley was,” McDermott said.
In November, McDermott signed four players for 2007-08, including 6-10 Craig Brackins, ranked No. 17 among the nation’s high school seniors by Rivals.com.
Footnotes
Oklahoma center Longar Longar will sit out Wednesday’s home game against Nebraska, the second game of a two-game suspension handed down by the Big 12 office. On Jan. 6, Longar elbowed Texas Tech center Esmir Rizvic in the face. Rizvic suffered three broken bones around his right eye and underwent surgery that included inserting a plate. OU coach Jeff Capel, who unsuccessfully appealed the suspension, insists Longar had no malicious intent and was turning to make an outlet pass. “The decision was made because the kid got hurt, not because of Longar’s actions,” Capel said. “It’s a very bad and very dangerous precedent.”…Texas’ Kevin Durant has become the first freshman in league history to earn Big 12 player of the week honors twice in a season.
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
