A year ago there was hope.

A potential NBA lottery pick, a coach that finally had some of his guys in the system and depth at nearly every position had fans believing.

Injury, sickness and mid-season departures left former coach Greg McDermott scrambling, left NBA-bound Craig Brackins without any help and left the Cyclones with a disappointing 15-17 season that ended with a loss in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament.

Brackins moved on to the NBA’s New Orleans Hornets, McDermott moved on back to the Missouri Valley and the head job at Creighton, and in stepped the hometown hero.

Fred Hoiberg inherits a team with four returners – only one of which played all of the 2009 season in full health – and question marks at nearly every spot on the roster.

Hoiberg’s only been on the job since late April, and turning a program around takes time – especially with 11 new faces in practice every day.

“You may see these guys throwing the ball into the third or fourth row in the month of the season,” Hoiberg said. “But if they keep grinding away and keep learning from their mistakes, these kids will have a chance.”

The young team’s leader will be Diante Garrett.

Garrett, in the past, has never been a scorer. In 2009-10, the Milwaukee, Wis., native averaged 9.2 points per game, a career high. Before that, he had seasons scoring 9.1 and 6.3 points per game.

Last season, Garrett also improved on his biggest weakness – turnovers – and had two assists for each turnover, another career high.

“Diante, we’re going to count on for a lot of things,” Hoiberg said. “He’s going to play a ton of minutes, and he’s going to be our go-to guy. He’s going to be asked to do a lot, and I think he’s ready for that challenge.”

His coach said Garrett’s shooting has improved over the summer. He’s a career 40.3 percent shooter in his three years in Ames, but he had always run the point for McDermott and never been asked to carry the scoring load.

Now, though, without Brackins for the first time and surrounded by unknowns, the senior will likely be asked to play off of the ball and put the ball in the basket.

“I’ve been in the gym a lot, getting a lot of jump shots up, just getting my jump shot ready,” Garrett said. “I’ve got to be ready to go out, and if they’re going to back up, be ready to shoot it.”

Hoiberg wants the defense backing off of the ISU offense.

Johnny Orr coached Hoiberg during the 1990s when he earned his mayoral title, and the Cyclones played a fast-paced offense that involved running in transition and spreading the floor for their many shooters.

While Hoiberg doesn’t have many shooters on the team, he has Garrett and a few he’d like to get in space.

“With Diante’s size and quickness and ball-handling abilities, it’s going to be very important for us to have the proper spacing plan,” Hoiberg said. “I think we have the chance to space the floor very well this year with some of the other players on our roster, with Scott Christopherson being a very good shooter and Jamie Vanderbeken back healthy and playing with confidence right now.”

Christopherson played much of the season while sick with mononucleosis, and his minutes were limited when he was ill. He still shot a team-high 42.9 percent from behind the 3-point line, and will likely be looked to as the sharpshooter for the squad again this season.

“Obviously, getting sick wasn’t exactly in my plan for last year,” Christopherson said. “But I think just having gone through and played through it, I’m just going to be a lot more confident.”

The LaCrosse, Wisc., native is “in the gym all day long,” Hoiberg said. Christopherson said it’s because he’s trying to make his game more rounded, become more than just an outside threat.

But in a system like Hoiberg’s, guards like Christopherson are put in a position to succeed anytime the regular set breaks down.

“For the guards, it’s a lot of fun,” Christopherson said. “You get a lot of freedom and a lot of space to make some plays.”

Vanderbeken might be the key to the offense’s success, though, if he can draw opposing defenses inside.

He’s listed at 6 feet 11 inches, but he only played in 10 games before eventually earning another year of eligibility from the NCAA.

Now, he’s the lone threat inside with his size, but he’s a big guy who’s known to stretch the floor with mid-range or even 3-point jump shots. He’s a 49.3 percent shooter in 41 games as a Cyclone, and has averaged 4.8 points per game.

“You try to play to the strengths of your players, and Jamie’s strength is to stretch the floor and to shoot perimeter shots,” Hoiberg said. “We’re going to play Jamie to his strengths, we’re going to play pick and roll with he and Diante a lot and space the floor out.”

After what he called a “hectic” offseason, Vanderbeken just wanted to straighten out his eligibility issues and get accustomed to the new coaching staff.

Since then, he’s cut weight – Hoiberg said he’s playing at a weight nearer to the weight he was in high school in Belleville, Ontario, Canada – and he says he’s completely healthy.

“It’s been a long time coming, but I’m finally 100 percent,” he said.

He’ll be asked to stretch the floor on offense and pound with Big 12 big men inside on defense. But he and Garrett will have another job as seniors: Helping the four freshmen and two transfer players – possibly three, depending on the NCAA’s decision regarding Royce White’s eligibility – get acclimated to Ames and Iowa State, as well as helping them work their way into the new coach’s system.

“It’s about being patient with the freshmen and transfers because they’re not used to this kind of system that we’re going to have,” Garrett said. “I know it’s new to them right now and a lot of things are happening to them, so I try to just be there with them.”

The transfer players, aside from White, will likely have the biggest impact right away for the Cyclones.

DeMarcus Phillips will miss four to six weeks with a fractured left hand, but can score when he is on the floor, averaging 16 points per game in his second season at Marshalltown Community College.

Meanwhile, Darion “Jake” Anderson will be asked to carry part of the load right away.

“I think Jake is the best leader on this team,” Hoiberg said.

Anderson scored 10.6 points, six rebounds and 3.5 assists per game last season at Northern Illinois after averaging 16.9 points per game as a sophomore the year before.

Hoiberg’s going to put the ball in Anderson’s hands, setting up Garrett for more scoring opportunities – something else different from past seasons – while also putting the ball in the hands of an experienced player, something that might be rare on a roster featuring four unproven players.

“With this group of freshmen, the biggest thing that they’re going to have is an opportunity,” Hoiberg said. “They’ll all get an opportunity to go out there and play right away because right now we only have 10 bodies.”

The freshman with the most buzz is Melvin Ejim, a 19-year-old forward from Toronto that played at the same prep school as Brackins.

He’s listed at 6 feet 6 inches, 215 pounds – “a Big 12 body,” Hoiberg said – and will probably be playing off and on at two different positions, power forward and small forward.

“He’s a very versatile player, he’s a guy that I’m very excited for offensive rebounding when he’s playing the small forward, and he’s a guy who’s quick enough to beat his guy off the dribble when he’s playing the power forward position,” Hoiberg said. “He’s got a big-time motor, and he’s a big-time defender. He’s been a very pleasant surprise for us very early on in the process.”

Vanderbeken sees a lot of Ejim in practice and said he’s strong and athletic, but he’s still got a lot to learn.

“With all the freshman, this isn’t high school anymore,” Vanderbeken said. “This is a grown man’s business. He’s having to learn and pick things up along the way.”

Hoiberg said Ejim was the “most ready” of the ISU freshmen, but he’s certainly not alone.

Calvin Godfrey, Jordan Railey and Eric McKnight will get minutes they might not normally get on a team with more depth or experience.

Their learning curves have been accelerated by necessity, and will probably have some ups and downs in their first season on campus.

“These young guys, whether they’re ready or not, are going to get thrown into the fire and see what they have and gain valuable experience doing that,” Hoiberg said.

In 2011-12, the freshmen will have a year “in the fire” and the transfer players forced to sit out a year – Chris Babb, Anthony Booker, Chris Allen and possibly White – will be eligible to get on the floor, having already worked out for a season in the system.

Big 12 coaches picked the Cyclones to finish last in the conference, but it’s certain that guys like Garrett, Vanderbeken and even Anderson don’t want to see that happen in their final collegiate seasons.

“Next year, we’re going to have a chance to be very good, and you know this year with our freshmen getting valuable experience, and with Scott coming back I think we’ll have a chance to make a big jump next year,” Hoiberg said.

“Every coach in the league voted us last in the Big 12, and these guys will take that as a challenge. They’re going to go out there and try to prove people wrong, and hopefully we’re capable of doing that.”