Editor’s note: In a two-part profile, the Iowa State Daily was able to catch up with men’s basketball coach Greg McDermott about the state of ISU basketball — where it is and where it’s headed. This is the first part. Check back in Wednesday’s print edition for more about sophomore Craig Brackins and the and the coach’s rebuilding process of the roster. season.

With one long leg crossed over the other, and circles under his eyes, ISU coach Greg McDermott talked Cyclone basketball in an empty Hilton Coliseum, his steady voice barely making it to the dim red seats four rows beneath him.

“You don’t spend much time looking back if you’re going to be in this profession for any period of time,” McDermott said. “You just get ready for the next game, and then once the last game’s over you turn your attention to what’s in front of you.”

Less than a month after his team ended its season in a Big 12 Tournament loss to Oklahoma State, McDermott’s off-season schedule has been planned to the hour, and can be as hectic as it is during the season. He’s on the recruiting trail and his players are caught up in the strength and conditioning time of year, trading in jerseys and suits for sweatpants and windbreakers.

Although the coach can’t help but agree the most recent campaign was disappointing, moving forward is really all he can do, and the coaching staff has all eyes turned towards progress.

“I didn’t feel like we were that far away in a lot of games,” McDermott said. “Most of the games we lost, we could point to a five- or six-minute stretch during that game that we got outscored 14-to-2, or 12-to-0, that in the end was the reason we couldn’t win that game.

“It’s not like we have miles to go, but we have to get better in certain parts of the game, and I think guys recognize that, and I think they’re very motivated to work at it.”

Recognizing problems after the season and solving them on the court are two very different things, but McDermott has those tired eyes and soft steady voice that sounds as if he’s been talking about these things since Gary Thompson was lighting up the scoreboard — he’s working on it.

Looking back at 2008-09

Closing out the regular season with a win over Texas Tech was a positive final note for Hilton Coliseum before it closed shop for the spring, but finishing 15-17 overall and 4-12 in conference wasn’t the goal.

“There were some good strides made, just unfortunately they didn’t show up in the win column during the Big 12 portion of the season that I had hoped for,” McDermott said.

Although the end result wasn’t pretty, plenty of inexperience and a lack of explosiveness were to be expected on a team that was getting it’s feet wet while taking some guidance from the three transplanted seniors. The concerns that were vocalized at the beginning of the season came to fruition during the Big 12 part of the season, but after eligibility time is up and players transfer, it’s left up to the coaches to decide exactly what the most gaping hole needs to be patched with.

“You need a certain level of athleticism to compete at this level, and we don’t have enough of those guys, and some of the ones we did have, we’ve lost for different reasons. Having to release Mike Taylor, and Wesley Johnson’s decision to leave, those are two All-Big 12 type players that left our program for different reasons,” McDermott said. “You don’t replace them overnight. It takes some time to do that, and that’s what we’re working to do.”

Bolstering the incoming talent level and increasing workouts are large factors in the equation, given the team-first style of play that is required in Iowa State defense, but offensively, the question marks abound.

“As a unit, we have to continue to get stronger, which is part of developing a program, having guys that have been in your program that are committed to the strength and conditioning program we have in place,” McDermott said.