Props to ISU basketball. Enough said.

Now I would like to discuss an issue that has me a little concerned. The Iowa State basketball team looks like a team that is finally gelling together, as they should with five seniors, but what about next season?

I understand that we have one of the best recruiting classes in the country coming in, but I think we may have missed a player in our own backyard.

I graduated from 2A Tri-Center High in Neola, Iowa. When I was a senior, there was a freshman by the name of Cary Cochran that ripped up the league. Then he was a 5-foot 9-inch scrawny point guard that had the purest of all shots.

Beyond his shooting was his court vision. He made every one around him better. Averages of his teammates went up, as did his scoring average.

We looked on, each of us saying to ourselves that Cary was something special.

Four years later, that scrawny kid now stands above six feet tall and is the greatest scorer in the history of Iowa. That’s right. He has scored more points in high school than “The Mayor” Fred Hoiberg, Loren Meyer, Jesse Settles and Raef LaFrentz.

His numbers stand for themselves. Cochran averaged 22.5 points as a freshman, 29.6 as a sophomore, 27.5 as a junior and is currently averaging 33 points per game. In his final game of the season versus Elk Horn Kimbalton, Cochran tallied 59 points.

The last time I saw Cochran play was his junior year. Now keep in mind that I hadn’t seen him since I had graduated. I was home for a weekend and Tri Center was playing Treynor in the Western Iowa Conference Tournament Championship. Cochran sparked Treynor for 51 points. I couldn’t believe what I had seen.

Cochran was consistently knocking down three-pointers from 20-25 feet. When he wasn’t shooting, he was busy racking up steals while toying with Treynor, showcasing several no-look passes, head-fakes and shake-and-bakes while cooking up steaks.

The bottom line is that Cochran is the greatest offensive threat in the history of Iowa. The numbers speak for themselves. So why didn’t Iowa State pick up on Cochran, who coincidentally bares a strange resemblance to Jacy Holloway, minus the teeth.

Why are Nebraska and Kansas State sitting atop the running for Cochran?

The sting to Cochran is that while he is quick with the ball, he is only a moderate defender. I say so what. Hoiberg wasn’t remembered for his defense, neither was Julius Michalik of Jeff Hornacek. Before you freak out, I’m not saying that Cochran is in the same class as such ISU all-stars as the previously mentioned, but he has the potential.

Holloway will be leaving soon, so why not give the greatest scorer in the history of Iowa a shot. The problem is I doubt he would come here due to the lack of respect he has received. I have a feeling that this decision not to recruit Cochran will come back to sting ISU in the butt. So keep this lyrical prose in mind in the future.

We’ll talk later.

CHAD CALEK is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Persia. He is the sports editor of the Daily.