Hoop Bits (4-29-15)

Long To Have Second Hip Surgery
Iowa State guard Naz Long will have arthroscopic surgery performed on his right hip on Thursday, May 7. The surgery will replicate the previous procedure that was performed on April 1 on his left hip, alleviating chronic pain that worsened throughout his junior season. The surgery will again be performed by Dr. Bryan Warme at Mary Greeley Hospital in Ames and the recovery time is expected to be 3-5 months.

Iowa State men’s basketball athletic trainer Vic Miller says that Long’s recovery from his first surgery has gone well.

“Naz is ahead of schedule on his recovery from his first surgery on his left hip and our hope is the second hip will respond in the same way,” Miller said. “Naz was so strong going into the first surgery, which always helps in a recovery.”

Long looks forward to getting the surgeries behind him and becoming an even bigger threat on the court.

“I’m looking forward to getting back to where I was and being able to do things from a mobility standpoint that I haven’t been able to do,” Long said. “I’ve been lifting for two weeks now and they tell me I am ahead of schedule. I’ve been blessed with a good body, one that has allowed me to heal faster. I’m excited to get this second surgery behind me.”

Long, a Mississauga, Ontario, native, started 33 of 34 games for the Cyclones in 2014-15. He averaged 10.1 points and hit a team-high 77 three-pointers. Long’s 2.3 three-pointers per game was second among Big 12 players.

Tsalmpouris To Keep Busy This Summer
Georgios Tsalmpouris will keep himself busy when he heads back home to Katerini, Greece following the spring semester. The sophomore will leave Ames on May 9 and hop into a schedule full of hoops.

Tsalmpouris will play for Greece’s U19 and U20 teams this summer.

The U19 FIBA World Championship will be held in Crete, Greece from June 27-July 5. Greece is slated to be in the same pool as the Dominican Republic, Korea and Serbia.

“We are really excited to host a tournament of that caliber,” Tsalmpouris said. “It will be awesome to play in front of our own crowd. It’s always a huge honor to represent your country internationally, and it will be special for us to do it in our country.”

From July 7-19, Tsalmpouris’ focus will shift to the U20 European Championship in Lignano Sabbiadoro, a northern Italy town on the Adriatic Sea coast. Greece will face Serbia, Bulgaria, Latvia and Israel in group play.

Long and Niang Aiming To Make History
When they take the floor for their senior seasons, teammates and roommates Long and Georges Niang will have a chance to become the first Cyclone men’s hoopsters to advance to the NCAA Tournament four times.

Just what would that mean to Niang and Long?

“It means everything to me,” Long said. “Part of the reason I came here was to leave a mark and obviously making tournaments is a big part of that. I want to be remembered as someone that did it the right way and loved wearing the Cardinal and Gold. To do it with Georges, that would mean the world to me. That is my brother. We’ve talked about this from the day we met, we wanted to win championships here at Iowa State and do things that have never been done before.”

Niang says that doing it for Cyclone Nation is what he’s most proud of.

“To be able to make history at any place on your journey is something special,” Niang said. “But for us to be able to do it at a place where you have the full support of the fans is something I will cherish forever.”