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Iowa State men's basketball recruiting class best in school history – Des Moines Register
AMES – Sweet 16.
Highest-ranked recruiting class since the Internet started ranking them.
And T.J. Otzelberger is just one game into his second season as Iowa State’s men’s basketball coach.
Wow.
No one’s planning to name anything after him. I assume the university isn’t planning a special celebration before the next game, but my golly, the way this program has responded from a 2-22 season in 2020-21 borders on the amazing.
Sweet 16. Best recruiting class in school history.
Impressive, to say the least.
Take a gander at the 2023 class of recruits who returned national letters of intent Wednesday:
Omaha Biliew, a five-star 6-foot-8 forward from Waukee, is the program’s highest-ranked recruit, per the 247.com ratings. Ever.
More:Inside Omaha Biliew’s commitment to Cyclones basketball: ‘It was always Iowa State’
Milan Momcilovic, four-star 6-8 forward from Pewaukee, Wisconsin, is the program’s No. 3 recruit. Of all time.
And there’s also Jelani Hamilton, a 6-6 shooting guard from Minneapolis, and Kayden Fish, a 6-6 forward from Kansas City, Missouri.
Translated: It’s the nation’s No. 6 recruiting class, at least as of Wednesday mid-afternoon.
“All four young men are tremendous character guys, workers and talented basketball players that will impact our program immediately,” Otzelberger said Wednesday.
“With Omaha, certainly growing up in the state, and his passion for the Cyclones program and coming to games here since he was young − it’s a really neat story and exciting to have him. He’s continually been doubted. Every time you put him against the best players, he stands out.
“With Omaha, his relentless motor, his competitive spirit, the leadership he provides, especially being a guy that defensively is elite, but also offensively, he can be a matchup problem. Plays with a spirt you don’t see very often.
“Unbelievable touch shooting the basketball from the post, from the perimeter, and an elite passer,” Otzelberger said. “A guy that really passes the ball on time and on target. His ability to put the ball in the basket and make people better translates immediately. A guy that really guards and cares on defense. Many of the guys that are as talented as him offensively don’t have that same commitment.”
“He’s had passion for this program since his younger years,” Otzelberger said of Hamilton, whose parents are Iowa State graduates.
“Growing up in the Midwest, he’s very familiar with the Big 12,” Otzelberger said. “I remember when we first had communication, and when he told us Iowa State was his dream school. That was really cool.”
More:Iowa State basketball adds to blockbuster 2023 recruiting class with Kansas City forward
With that much talent, especially from Biliew and Momcilovic, I always wonder just how long they can resist the NBA appeal. We saw it recently with Tyrese Haliburton, Talen Horton-Tucker and Lyndell Wigginton.
“There’s two things we believe in,” Otzelberger said. “No, 1, we’re trying to put our best team together, the next year, that we can. Certainly, having guys that are really good players, regardless how long they’re here −that helps that.
“No. 2, when we recruit freshmen, because you hear a lot now about folks with the transfer portal and being reliant-dependent on it, we believe with our program, the greatest strength is going to be the development piece. That’s guys coming here and doing better than maybe what people might have thought, and then continuing to take those big strides from year one to year two, and year two to year three.
“We don’t spend a whole lot of time worrying about how long a guy will be here. That’s a credit to their hard work and talent, and hopefully also the positions we put them in, and how we challenge them to be their best every day.
“We don’t have benchmarks of how many wins we should have, or what our recruiting class should ranked. More than anything, we come every day and work really hard. We’re going to make the most of every single day, whatever that is.”
Iowa State columnist Randy Peterson embarked on his 50th year of writing sports for the Des Moines Register in December 2021. Reach him at rpeterson@dmreg.com, 515-284-8132, and on Twitter @RandyPete.
