Iowa State announces four freshmen in top-25 ranked class
Photo: Adam Ring/Iowa State Dail
Coach Fred Hoiberg speaks with the media as part of basketball media day Wednesday, Oct. 10, at the Sukup Basketball Complex. Hoiberg is entering his third season as head coach of the men’s basketball team.
November 14, 2012
ISU men’s basketball coach Fred Hoiberg announced one of the top recruiting class in the country on Wednesday.
This 2013-14 class of four players is ranked in the top 25 nationally.
According to Rivals, Iowa State has the No. 25 class and according to ESPN, it is the No. 24 class.
This year’s class includes two players ranked in the top 100, with Matt Thomas and Monte Morris, along with two junior college teammates from Indian Hills in Richard Amardi and Dustin Hogue.
Monte Morris
PG, 6-1, 195 pounds, Freshman
Flint, Mich. (Beecher High School)
Jr. – 19.5 ppg, 4.3 apg, 4.7 rpg
Morris is a consensus top-100 recruit who is also in the running to win Michigan’s Mr. Basketball Award this year. Ranked No. 80 by ESPN, Morris has already won Michigan’s Associated Press’ Class C Player of the Year Award. He was also a two-time first-team all-state selection and was named to the Detroit Free Press’ Dream Team. His junior season he led his Beecher squad to the state championship. Before choosing to become a Cyclone, Morris was considering Butler, Illinois, Indiana, Arizona State, Cincinnati, Georgia Tech and USC.
Matt Thomas
SG, 6-4, 190, Freshman
Onalaska, Wis. (Onalaska High School)
21.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.5 apg, 2.1 spg
Thomas is widely regarded as one of, if not the best, shooter in the 2013 class. He skyrocketed up the national rankings after tearing up the AAU circuit this summer. Thomas, another consensus top-100 recruit, is ranked as the No. 32 ranked player according to ESPN. Thomas led his Onalaska team to the 3A state championship where he scored 30 points in the win. Before choosing Iowa State, Thomas was also considering Virginia, Wisconsin and Marquette.
Richard Amardi
F, 6-9, 225, Senior
Scarborough, Ontario (God’s Academy, Indian Hills C.C.)
An athletic post player, Amardi will finish his junior season at Indian Hills Community College. At Weatherford Community College in Texas, Amardi averaged 13.4 points per game and 9.7 rebounds per game. He’ll have one season of eligibility at Iowa State.
Dustin Hogue
F, 6-6, 205, Junior
Yonkers, N.Y. (Lincoln, Indian Hills C.C.)
Hogue averaged 10.6 points per game and 5.7 rebounds per game at Indian Hills last season as only a freshman. Indian Hills finished seventh at the NJCAA Division I national tournament last year. Before Hogue decided to commit to Iowa State, he considered Iowa, Texas Tech, Washington State and Detroit.
