The Iowa State men's basketball program made two interesting hires this week in Nick Nurse and Jeff Grayer. Finally after all the bad news about player defections, there is some good news coming out of Ames, Iowa.
Maybe these new coaches will actually land some talented players and actually help keep them on the team. Plus, maybe Nurse and Grayer can help restore some luster to a needy Iowa State basketball program.
Nurse offers excellent coaching credentials. He was a head coach in the NBA Development League and also coached overseas. You might think this is a coaching step down for him, but he sounds excited to join his former college teammate in Cyclone head man Greg McDermott.
The Grayer appointment excites me the most. I watched him in person as one of the most celebrated players in Cyclone history. He is Iowa State's all-time leading scorer and a former All-American. Grayer IS Iowa State basketball and helped land the Cyclones on the national scene. Grayer doesn't bring a whole lot of coaching experience (two years in the Continental Basketball Association), but it sounds like he wants to give back to his alma mater. And connections in basketball rich Michigan (he's from Flint), cannot hurt either.
In recent years, Iowa State fans have been beaten and broken down. There is really only one way to go with this program and that's up. These hires present hope that "up" isn't far away.
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