With Royce White now in the NBA, Iowa State needs veterans such as senior guard Chris Babb to step if the Cyclones are to return to the NCAA tournament.
Unfortunately for Babb his senior campaign isn’t off to the best start, as the school announced that head coach Fred Hoiberg has suspended for three games for a violation of team rules.
Babb will miss the Cyclones’ exhibition against Minnesota State and the regular season games against Southern and Alabama A&M.
Coach Hoiberg announced today that Chris Babb will miss the exhibition and the first 2 regular season games for a violation of team rules.
— Iowa State Men’s Basketball (@CycloneMBB) November 1, 2012
No comment from Hoiberg thus far on what triggered the move, but something like this can serve as a wake-up call to make sure things don’t get worse down the line.
Babb averaged 7.8 points and 4.1 rebounds per game last season, starting all 34 contests that he played in.
Iowa State lost their top three scorers from last season, and the hope is that players such as Babb and Tyrus McGee can step up alongside transfers Korie Lucious (Michigan State) and Will Clyburn (Utah) to make up for the loss of Scott Christopherson and Chris Allen on the perimeter.
The Cyclones also add freshmen Sherron Dorsey-Walker, Naz Long and Kerwin Okoro to the mix on the perimeter.
Iowa State will be fine in those two regular season games without Babb, and he’ll have a couple games under his belt before the Cyclones hit Las Vegas for the Global Vision Classic November 23 and 24 (Cincinnati, followed by either UNLV or Oregon).
Raphielle is also the assistant editor at CollegeHoops.net and can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.