The ISU and Iowa men’s basketball teams won’t play each other until 2004.

ISU head coach Wayne Morgan said Wednesday the two schools could not agree on a date before the conference season begins in January, so fans will have to wait until after the new year.

“They were offered several dates in the pre-conference schedule, all of which they indicated they could not be here,” Morgan said.

Morgan said he thinks playing Iowa State’s biggest rival during the conference season is less than ideal, but its important that the series continue.

“I’d prefer to play during pre-conference and not have anything interfere with concentration on conference play,” he said. “But we want to play the game. I think its a valuable game. I think it’s a big rivalry. I think people throughout the state have great interest in it, and I actually think it’s a good thing not only for basketball, but for the state.”

Morgan also said there have been challenges trying to schedule a major non-conference opponent for the upcoming season.

“We’ve talked to a lot of schools,” Morgan said. “We’ve talked to St. John’s, Arizona State; we’ve talked to Miami; we’ve talked to Seton Hall; we’ve talked to a ton of schools.”

Morgan said there’s a lot that goes into scheduling games and money is a major factor. “There are major schools who make up to $750,000 per home game, and we don’t pay those kind of guarantees,” Morgan said. “So it is difficult sometimes to get someone to come to your arena and play.”

Morgan said it’s most likely an agreement with a major non-conference team would have involved each team playing at the others’ home court. Morgan added he would entertain an offer from a network to play on the road if it would televise the game.

“Now, I will play away somewhere if ABC wants to give us $1,000,000,” he said. “Then we’ll go do that.”

Morgan made his comments at a press conference, where he introduced his assistant coaches. He also laid out how he and his staff would handle recruiting players. Morgan said he’ll look all over the country for good players.

“[We’ll] look at a young man, and if we see him as someone that can participate on a team that has an opportunity to win the Big 12 championship, then we’ll recruit him,” Morgan said. “That will be wherever he’s from. As long as he wants to be here.

“Obviously, we will look at all the kids in the state of Iowa and if they meet all the criteria and they want to come here, we will have open arms and hugs and kisses.”

Morgan said he will continue to be involved with recruiting while he also will rely on the efforts of his staff.