T.J. Otzelberger Loses His First Cyclone To Transfer Portal
New Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger has reportedly lost his first Cyclone to the transfer portal.
Guard Tyler Harris, who transferred to Iowa State from Memphis before the 2020-21 season, is back in the portal, according to a report from CycloneAlert at 247Sports.com.
The news is a bit of a blow to the Cyclones, as Harris was a part-time starter last season and played every game of the season, one in which the Cyclones went 2-22 and were winless in league action for the first time since before World War II. The Cyclones fired head coach Steve Prohm a week ago and replaced him with Otzelberger, who was the head coach at UNLV.
Harris averaged 7.5 points, 1.0 assists and 1.0 steals per game for the Cyclones. Before he arrived at Iowa State, he played two seasons at Memphis and averaged 9.9 points per game.
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This does free up a scholarship for Otzelberger, who just took the head-coaching job earlier this week. Right now, the Cyclones have only one recruit signed on the dotted line — guard Tyrese Hunter of St. Catherine’s High School in Racine, Wisconsin. At 247sports.com Hunter is ranked as the program’s No. 3 all-time recruit, dating back to 2004. He is also a Top 40 player nationally.
ISU has one other commitment that isn’t signed, and that’s from guard Jayden Nunn of Dream City Christian in Glendale, Arizona.
During his introductory press conference, Otzelberger said he was interested in pursuing every avenue to make the Cyclones better, but acknowledged, along with athletic director Jamie Pollard, that they anticipated that rebuilding ISU basketball would be a “multi-year process.”
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
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