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The Big 12 will see many changes this college basketball offseason, including the departure of Iowa State Cyclones’ Georges Niang, who has moved on after being in the conference for what has felt like the last 10 years.
That being said, the absence of Niang will mean little in terms of the fight for the 2016-17 Big 12 regular season title, as it seems things are falling in place for Iowa State to duke it out with the Kansas Jayhawks for conference supremacy.
Not only did the highly touted West Virginia Mountaineers take a step back after star player Devin Williams announced he would be signing an agent for the 2016 NBA Draft, but now Iowa State will once again have the services of Naz Mitrou-Long, who was granted a hardship waiver by the NCAA.
It’s official: Naz Mitrou-Long is back for Iowa State. #Cyclones https://t.co/OkSqjKntt3
— Cyclone Insider (@DMRCyclones) April 29, 2016
Only playing in eight games, Long missed the majority of last season due to two surgeries on his hip. He averaged over 30 minutes and 12 points per game in his short time on the court and will be a valuable asset to a team that is losing key pieces from the previous season.
Long will be joined by fellow veteran guard Monte Morris, who decided to return to Ames for another season. The return of Long and Morris gives Iowa State one of the better guard pairings in college basketball. These two players alone could carry this Cyclones squad into the 2017 NCAA tournament and should definitely make Iowa State one of the better teams in the Big 12.
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