The next season is not just any season for the ISU men’s basketball program – it is the program’s 100th season.

The ISU men’s basketball program has a great history and there have been many things that have been mainstays in the program throughout its existence.

The program, according to the 2006-2007 ISU men’s basketball media guide, started inauspiciously in 1907-08 with a 53-35 loss to Kansas and a 36-16 victory over Drake.

Many of the coaches who have coached at Iowa State have striven for excellence and taken the team to the NCAA and NIT tournaments.

Former coaches – such as Johnny Orr and Tim Floyd – have been successful and current coach Greg McDermott will try next season to take his team to the postseason for the first time.

Former Cyclone player Julius Michalik said those coaches are the reason the team has been able to stay at or near the top of its conference for most of its existence.

“We have always had great coaches at ISU,” Michalik said. “They have recruited and developed many players who were able to compete in the Big Eight and now the Big 12.”

Another vivid image that goes along with the program is Hilton Coliseum and “Hilton Magic,” something which was brought about in a headline written by Des Moines Register sportswriter Buck Turnbull when the Cyclones upset No. 3 Missouri on Feb. 14, 1989.

The arena, which opened in 1971, seats 14,092 fans, and that number will be expanded when it is renovated after this season to include more seats and an adjacent practice facility.

Hilton Coliseum is nationally regarded as one of the toughest places to play. Iowa State even had a 39-game home winning streak at one point from 2000-02.

Michalik said Hilton was the greatest place he has ever played and that includes the several years he played professionally in different countries in Europe.

“It has changed a little bit because the core of our players like Fred [Hoiberg], Hurl [Beacham], and Loren [Meyer], were from Iowa, and fans followed them since high school so they identified with them, much easier,” Michalik said. “That place got so loud sometimes that you could feel the floor shaking and I think we have lost a little bit of it lately.”

“Hilton Magic” is a phenomenon where the rabid ISU fans seem to be able to will their teams, even when they were not the most talented, to unexpected victories.

An example of this is when Michalik played from 1992-95. The Cyclones were undefeated at home in the 1992-93 season and defeated No. 1 Kansas and No. 3 Oklahoma State at home.

One of the other mainstays in the program is the aspect that people involved with the team stay loyal to the program and people from it.

An example of this is how many players from the program are playing in a benefit game and participating in a charity weekend for the late Barry Stevens, who just recently died.

Jim Hallihan, who was an assistant coach when Stevens played at Iowa State, is heading up the festivities for the weekend and Jeff Grayer, who played at the same high school as Stevens and is married to Grayer’s sister, is taking care of the all-star game.

Grayer said playing at Iowa State and being a driving force in starting Hilton Magic with Stevens was an awesome experience.

“It is something that I will cherish the rest of my life,” Grayer said. “Over and above all the things I’ve done when it comes to basketball, some of my fondest memories were at Iowa State, and that includes my time on the Olympic team and at the NBA level.”

Men’s team enters season with new players

Since it’s the Cyclones 100th season, they would like to bounce back from a sub-par season. The seven incoming players, who have been recruited by coach Greg McDermott and his staff, have caused heightened expectations from ISU fans.

McDermott, who led the Cyclones to a 15-16 overall record and 6-10 record in the Big 12 Conference, has brought in a top 50 recruiting class. They also will get University of Iowa transfer and Ames native Alex Thompson.

Craig Brackins, the jewel of the class, is the 18th-ranked player in the incoming class of freshman, according to www.rivals.com, and the fourth-ranked power forward. Diante Garrett is also ranked in the top 150 by Rivals.com and is the 18th-rated point guard.

The Cyclones have picked up five other players, including the current Mr. Basketball in Iowa, Clayton Vette, from Waverly-Shell Rock High School. Vette is the first Mr. Basketball from the state of Iowa to come play for Iowa State since Fred Hoiberg, who became the third highest scorer, committed in 1991, according to www.cyclones.com.

Members of this arriving class could possibly supplant three of the starters from last year. Ron Smith, assistant coach and director of basketball operations, said these players are all capable of coming in and contributing right away.

Smith said some combination of newcomers Garrett, Marcus Brister, Charles Boozer and Lucas Staiger will figure into the guard spots along with junior Rahshon Clark and junior Mike Taylor.

“We’re hopefully going to solidify our point guard position,” Smith said. “Their individual roles will start taking shape as they join the team and we’ll find out where their strengths will fit into our needs.”

Taylor’s status is up in the air for next season, however, because of recent legal issues that have him suspended indefinitely, pending a decision by McDermott.

Another key factor to the success of the Cyclones is the continued development of the team’s most improved player from the previous season, junior Jiri Hubalek. Hubalek, in the later stages of last season, became the back-to-the-basket, low-post player the team has needed. Smith said he will figure into the plan along the front line, as well as returnees sophomores Wesley Johnson, Cory Johnson and new players Brackins and Thompson.

Smith said Thompson will add a dimension to the team because he was with the team all last year, when he had to sit out for his transfer from Iowa.

“Those guys have had experience with the exception of Brackins playing at a pretty high level,” Smith said.

These players will attempt to lead Iowa State back to the NCAA Tournament, a place where they have been 13 times before, with the last appearance coming in 2005.

ISU Athletics plan celebration for letterwinners

With next season being the Cyclones’ centennial season, the ISU athletic department has many events planned to celebrate it.

Ryan McGuire, director of Special Events and Letterwinners for the ISU athletic department, said great moments from the rich history of the ISU men’s basketball will be highlighted at each home game.

Also, McGuire said the festivities will culminate on a weekend in February, which is unknown yet because the Big 12 has not released the conference schedule for the 2007-08 season.

“We don’t have a schedule yet from the Big 12, so we can’t set a lot of this in stone,” McGuire said. “We will invite all of our men’s basketball letterwinners back for a celebration weekend.”

Although it is in the early planning stages, McGuire said the weekend will kickoff with a social for all the players on the Friday night of that weekend. Depending on what the game time is for the game on that Saturday, the athletic department is exploring several different ways to honor the 15 members of the All-Century Team at that game.

Part of that team was voted on by fans at www.cyclones.com, while eight members were guaranteed a spot.

Those eight were named All-American, and the other seven were elected from a ballot of 44 players.

To make that ballot, a player had to be named first team all-conference, have 1,000 points or more in their career, or have played in the NBA.

Michalik, who didn’t make the team, was a nominee because he is the sixth all-time highest scorer in ISU history.

He said it would have been a great honor if he had made the team with so many other great players.

ISU athletic director Jamie Pollard said the voting will unite all of the great ISU fans, including the top student section in the country as voted on www.espn.com and Cyclone Alley, in remembering all the legends who have played for Iowa State.

“Part of our whole mission over these two years has been engaging our fans however we can,” Pollard said.

“One of the ways to engage them is to have them vote, and a lot of people have voted.”