What makes a winning basketball team? Some would say it is good shooters. Some would say it is how tall your team is.

I’ve been watching Cyclone basketball a lot recently, primarily to get a glimpse of the future.

Surprisingly enough, I think the future could be right now.

Remember two years ago when some relatively unknown players came to Iowa State? Such names as Ken Pratt, Kelvin Cato and Dedric Willoughby raised eyebrows and question marks around the country.

Where one player had a weakness, the others excelled. Last year, the Cyclones grew into a cohesive unit that nearly landed the Cyclones into the “Great Eight.”

I see a lot of those signs right now. Our team is so young, but they are showing flashes of brilliance.

The Cyclones definitely have size, quickness, speed and shooting ability.

What remains to be conquered is team unity, and the players are getting there.

And it’s nice to know we don’t have to buy a team to get them. We may have to pay them to keep them here, but we don’t buy them.

It’s always trivial to me how quickly people who call themselves fans will write off their so-called “team” just because of one lousy outing.

So we lost to the University of Northern Iowa? Does this mean we suck? No, it doesn’t. It means that on that first night we sucked.

Let’s not forget the Willoughby-led Cyclone team lost to Marathon Oil.

That didn’t make them losers. It may have disgusted us all, but it didn’t make them losers.

In my eyes, the current ISU lineup has more talent on this team than on the previous two seasons.

Was Kenny Pratt that great of an athlete?

Right up and down the line we are so solid. Brad Johnson, Stevie Johnson, Martin Rancik and Jerry Curry are exceptional athletes up and down the board.

And our team size is bigger than last year (when you don’t average in Cato, of course).

So now that I’ve slammed ISU hoops down your throat, I’ll attempt to back it up with a few predictions.

The ISU men’s basketball team will win 19 games this season. The Cyclones will also make a return trip to the NCAA Tournament under super-coach Tim Floyd. Finally, I will get laid by 20 women with harelips before then.

It all comes down to faith. Either you have it or you don’t. I believe 19 wins is an easy number to reach for a team with so much talent.

I believe the Cyclones will get a bid to go to the NCAA tournament because of a winning program tradition and because of the presence of Floyd.

I believe women with harelips will find me, hug me and love me.

If I put my mind to it, it will happen.

So hang in there for the Cyclones, because the road is going to be a little rough at first, but it will all be good in the end.

Nice talking to ya, but I got better things to do, so …

We’ll talk later.

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Chad Calek is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Persia.