Hoop Bits (10-23-14)

Cooke To Undergo Surgery
Iowa State sophomore Hallice Cooke will head to New York City for a surgery that will repair cartilage tears in both hips. Cooke, who is sitting out the 2014-15 season after transferring to ISU from Oregon State, will have surgery on one hip Monday and the other four weeks later.

For Cooke, the injuries have been ongoing and he has decided to take care of them now during his redshirt year according to Iowa State Athletic Trainer Vic Miller.

The recovery period for the surgery is expected to be six to eight months.

Point Guards Proven In Big 12
When we entered the 2013-14 season, the Big 12 had quite a few teams with a question mark at a very important position. Point guard. The Cyclones had DeAndre Kane at point guard, but it can be argued that ISU played its best ball when Morris was inserted into the starting lineup alongside Kane.

This season, Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma and Texas will not have questions there.

The four teams, all of which are picked second through fifth in the preseason poll, seem to be set at floor general for the future, which bodes well for Big 12 basketball.

Iowa State’s Monté Morris actually started the fewest games (17) of any of the sophomore point guards and we all know the impact he had as a rookie.

It will be interesting to see these players grow and their impact on the league in year two. Here is a quick breakdown of the sophomore studs.

Monté Morris (Iowa State, 6-2, 170, Flint, Mich.)
28.1 mpg, 6.8 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 3.7 apg, 0.7 tpg, 4.79 a/to ratio, 1.3 spg, 43.0 FG%, 40.6 3FG%, 84.7 FT%

Morris may have scored the fewest points of these players, but don’t let that fool you. Morris played a major role in the Cyclones’ offense, which led the Big 12 and ranked fifth nationally in scoring. Perhaps more than any of the other guys on this list, Morris wasn’t needed to score as much because of what was around him. An extremely efficient player, he was truly a floor general for the Cyclones, breaking the NCAA assist-to-turnover ratio at 4.79. I think it is safe to expect the Flint, Mich. native to score a bit more this season, which we got a taste of in the NCAA Tournament when he averaged 13.3 points. He also hit 9-of-11 threes in the Big 12 Tournament and NCAA Tournament.

Marcus Foster (Kansas State, 6-2, 200, Wichita Falls, Texas)
29.4 mpg, 15.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 2.5 apg, 2.2 tpg, 1.15 a/to ratio, 0.6 spg, 42.3 FG%, 39.5 3FG%, 73.4 FT%

Foster garnered the most acclaim as a freshman, earning All-Big 12 Second-Team honors. He averaged the most points of the bunch and was a preseason All-Big 12 pick this season.

Jordan Woodard (Oklahoma, 6-0, 182, Arcadia, Okla.)
28.0 mpg, 10.3 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 4.6 apg, 2.1 tpg, 2.17 a/to ratio, 1.0 spg, 35.7 FG%, 37.0 3FG%, 77.7 FT%

Woodard’s 4.6 assists per game led this group and he was second to only Morris with his 2.17 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Isaiah Taylor (Texas, 6-1, 170, Hayward, Calif.)
30.1 mpg, 12.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 4.0 apg, 2.4 tpg, 1.69 a/to ratio, 1.1 spg, 39.1 FG%, 26.3 3FG%, 74.8 FT%

Behind a nifty teardrop floater, Taylor scores many of his points around the basket. He joined Foster on the All-Rookie team last season.

Naz On Georges
When I was interviewing Naz Long for a story on himself, I asked him to tell me about Georges Niang the person. Here was his response about his roommate, teammate and close friend:

“He is the goofiest and most dedicated individual that you could ever meet. He has such a fun side to him and he’s a great person. He can make you laugh all day, but at the end of the day he’s about his business. He is always watching tape at home and we are always talking about practice and the season. We talk about positives, we talk about negatives and it all comes down to the fact that he is a student of the game. He is a grinder and someone that is dedicated to his craft.”

@SethOnHoops Visits The Cyclones
Former Virginia Tech head coach and ESPN college basketball analyst Seth Greenberg visited practice on Tuesday, Oct. 14. His message was simple, you can be successful if you defend as a team. Greenberg pointed out that there is no doubt the Cyclones can score, but great teams defend as a team as well.

Scrimmage Tipoff with last instructions from @ISUMayor32. pic.twitter.com/vbA1hNL04C

— Seth Greenberg (@SethOnHoops) October 14, 2014

Joining Instagram
In case you missed it, Iowa State men’s basketball is on Instagram now (IowaStateMBB). We’ll try to bring you pictures throughout the season, as well as some behind the scenes stuff.

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A post shared by Iowa State Men's Basketball (@cyclonembb)

Associated Press Top-25
The Associated Press Preseason Top-25 will be announced on Oct. 31. The last time the Cyclones were ranked in the preseason top-25 was 2005-06 (23). In 1996-97, the Tim Floyd-led Cyclones were ranked ninth in the preseason.

Where do you think the Cyclones will be ranked?