It was just one year ago that Taggart was the highlight of ISU men’s basketball coach Wayne Morgan’s recruiting class.

The 7-footer from Virginia was said to have passed on the NBA to attend Iowa State. His potential was almost endless.

ISU fans spent the offseason dreaming of Taggart running and gunning with Curtis Stinson, Will Blalock and Rahshon Clark.

A player of his size and athleticism was a dream come true for Iowa State; another star center to follow in the footsteps of Kelvin Cato, Marcus Fizer, Jackson Vroman and Jared Homan.

He was the final piece to the Cyclone puzzle, an inside scoring force to complement Iowa State’s trio of standout guards.

And then Taggart stepped on the basketball court and fans’ hopes came crashing back down to a harsh reality of unrealized potential. His numbers were unimpressive – 5.6 points and a measly 3.6 rebounds per game – as was his overall game.

Now, one year later, Taggart is gone – the latest move in Iowa State’s basketball exodus.

He joins guards Tasheed Carr and Farnold Degand and forward Mike Evanovich as players who have shown themselves the door.

Stinson and Blalock are also out testing the waters of the NBA Draft. Both can still return to the team if they so choose, provided the draft doesn’t go in their favor.

Of Iowa State’s offensive production from last season, only 35 percent returns, with almost half of that coming in the form of Rahshon Clark.

Clark is an exceptional player – an athletic slasher who can penetrate and score at will, and has also developed a reliable outside shot – but all that remains around him is Jiri Hubalek, Ross Marsden and Jessan Gray.

Talk about a bare cupboard.

New ISU coach Greg McDermott has his work cut out for him.

Although all the defections may look like bad news, let’s be honest; the only ones that really hurt are Stinson’s and Blalock’s jumps to the pros. Losing Taggart is addition by subtraction.

Taggart showed flashes of promise on the offensive end, providing a soft shooting touch from 15 feet and competent post moves.

But his defense left a little – OK, a lot – to be desired.

He was a defensive liability, proving time and again that he couldn’t grasp Morgan’s defensive schemes. His play down low in Iowa State’s 2-3 zone was sluggish and his attempts at stopping anyone in transition were downright awful.

Case and point: Iowa State’s 73-63 home loss to Nebraska. Cornhusker center Aleks Maric – never more than an marginal offensive threat himself – exploded for 37 points, making Taggart and his Cyclone friends look silly.

Taggart’s response? Two points, one rebound.

That kind of effort won’t be accepted by McDermott, who preaches defense, discipline and fundamental basketball.

Those three things aren’t even in Taggart’s vocabulary, much less his game.

– Grant Wall is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Fort Dodge. He is the sports editor for the Daily.