Ejim taking the wait and see approach

By Chris Williams, CycloneFanatic.com Publisher Iowa State’s most celebrated 2010 basketball signee was like many of you when he woke up this morning. Melvin Ejim, a 6-foot-6, 210-pound forward out of the Brewster Academy in New Hampshire was awfully surprised.

The news about Greg McDermott’s sudden departure to Creighton took him off guard.

“I didn’t see it coming,” Ejim told CycloneFanatic.com on Monday night. “I didn’t know anything about it. It kind of hit me. I had a good relationship with Coach McDermott.”

So what now? Ejim is going to wait and see whom Iowa State elects to go with as their next head basketball coach before deciding on his future. It appears that Ejim’s decision could ultimately hinge on his primary recruiter, T.J. Otzelberger’s future in Ames.

“I have a great relationship with Coach Otzelberger,” Ejim said. “If he is the new coach I would definitely stay. If somebody else gets it, I would need to sit back and talk to my mom and my coaches to see what is going on and decide what the best decision is for me.”

Ejim has already signed his LOI to Iowa State. He would have to be released from that letter to play elsewhere next season.

Ejim was named the New Hampshire Gatorade Player of the year this past season.