Iowa State men’s basketball may not be at the forefront of most Cyclone fans’ minds, but with a busy offseason and tremendous hype surrounding the 2009-2010 edition, coach Greg McDermott and his squad are already preparing for the hoopla.

Iowa State released its highly-anticipated schedule Aug. 24, and Hilton-goers looking for good basketball need not look any further. The home schedule features a few marquee teams, including highly ranked Texas and Kansas in the Big 12 conference schedule, and a three-game stretch in February that has Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and Nebraska coming to Ames in a seven-day span.

“The schedule is a result of having experience back, because we expect a challenge in the non-conference part of our schedule. I feel like we put together an adequate number of home games for the challenges we face away and during the Big 12 portion of our schedule,” McDermott said.

Non-conference games against UNI, Iowa and Bradley at home, and on the road against contenders like Drake, either Notre Dame or Northwestern in Chicago on Nov. 28, California and the schedule gem, Duke.

McDermott mentioned that the Duke matchup on Jan. 6 was the last game added to the schedule, and an opportunity for the great amount of Iowa State alumni in Chicago to watch the Cyclones in the United Center.

Expectations

With unprecedented hype in the Greg McDermott/Craig Brackins era, the Cyclones will need their play to match up with expectations for the year, but the much improved schedule will showcase Iowa State basketball nicely.

“We have more pieces in place from an experience stand point … With recruiting and the newcomers to the team, it’s natural for those expectations to be high,” McDermott said.

The Cyclones return 77 percent of their scoring from last season, and newcomers Chris Colvin (Fr., 6’3 guard), Marquis Gilstrap (Sr., 6’7 forward), LaRon Dendy (Jr., 6’9 forward) and Marquette transfer Scott Christopherson (RSo., 6’3 guard) will look to light even more of a spark underneath the team with some valuable playing time.

It isn’t often in 2009 that a Big 12 team can say they return a 20 and 10 player, but the Cyclones can boast that with Craig Brackins, the All-Big 12 junior forward, who is looking to build off his national attention-garnering sophomore campaign. Brackins returned in the spring after considering a jump to the NBA, citing “unfinished business” as a concern, and he’ll have the chance to improve the players around him for what Cyclone fans hope is a return to the NCAA tournament.

International Play

Brackins was one of 12 players selected for the United States University Games team this offseason, among other well-known college players that had All-American and All-District honors bestowed upon them at the end of the year.

Brackins helped Team USA to a bronze medal at the competitive event in Belgrade, Serbia, where international basketball is played at a high level by near-professional European players. Brackins averaged 6.6 points and six rebounds in the seven-game tournament, a seemingly low number for the Cyclone star. With the style of basketball, however, Team USA was playing a balanced roster and balanced minutes, with leading scorer, Penn State guard Talor Battle throwing in only 10.3 per game.

“For Craig it was a once in a lifetime experience, and he probably developed friends for life. He got to experience the culture, and the style of international basketball, so the experience was nothing but positive,” McDermott said.

Iowa State’s shooting guard, pop sensation Lucca Staiger led team Germany at the event with 13.4 points per game, including 21 three pointers made in his seven games in Serbia. Germany finished 2–5 for the event, but Staiger would do Cyclone fans proud by keeping his shooting touch going into the tough schedule for 2009-10.