AMES — Iowa State guard Lindell Wigginton burst on the scene last year for the Cyclones as a freshman. He was the second-leading scorer in the Big 12 with 16.7 points per game, behind only Oklahoma's Trae Young.
His issue was he averaged nearly three turnovers per game. Wigginton spent a lot of time in the offseason on his decision-making.
About three times a week, Wigginton watched film with coach Steve Prohm for about an hour. After the film session, he'd round up the managers and assistant coaches and work on game-like situations he needed to improve on.
Iowa State has only had a handful of practices, but Wigginton is happy with how far his decision-making is coming.
"I'm not turning the ball over as much and coach can vouch for me on that," he said.
"Lindell's been terrific," Prohm said. "He's a better on-ball defender. He's grown in his decision-making and then collectively, all of our guys have really grown in sharing the ball and playing together. Lindell will play some 1 (guard), Nick will play some 1, Tyrese will play some 1 as well.
Talen Horton-Tucker = Georges Niang?
Freshman Talen Horton-Tucker is Iowa State's most highly-touted recruit in this year's class. The versatile wing can do a lot of different things on the court, which has drawn some comparisons to former Cyclone Georges Niang.
Which is a point Niang conceded on Twitter.
Guard Nick Weiler-Babb played with Niang and now Horton-Tucker. He sees the comparisons, but there are definite differences.
"I feel like Talen's more athletic. Georges wasn't," Weiler-Babb said, pausing and laughing to himself as he recalled Niang's athleticism. "Georges wasn't the most athletic guy. Georges was probably one of the best to ever come through Iowa State, so for Talen to get comparisons to him, that's impressive. They can both handle the ball, they can both shoot it, they can both get to the rim.
Marial Shayok transferred to Iowa State from Virginia, the best defensive program in college basketball.
Shayok transferred because he wanted to be at place that played at a higher tempo and that would use his athleticism better.
But he hasn't forgotten his defensive roots — even if Prohm does give him a hard time if he makes a mistake on that end.