INSIDER: What the Cyclones are up to on the basketball recruiting trail

It’s been an odd start to piecing together the 2019 basketball recruiting class for Steve Prohm and his staff. Not odd as in bad, just different.

First things first, the Cyclones currently have three available scholarships for this 2019 class. Consider the Lindell Wigginton factor – he’s likely going pro after the 2018-19 season – so it is fairly safe to assume that Iowa State will need to fill four slots.

What makes this class different is that unlike the last couple of years, Iowa State doesn’t have a guy it has been locked in on for months – if not a good year. Heading into July the last two years, you knew about Iowa State’s lead on Wigginton. We felt the same way about Iowa State and Talen Horton-Tucker a year ago.

It’s kind of open out there right now, however the Cyclones have made some moves during the opening of the July period. Details below.

OFFERS

P.J. Fuller:  A 6-foot-4 guard out of Seattle, recently picked up an Iowa State offer. 247 currently ranks him as the No. 53 player in the class. He’s got additional offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Florida State, TCU, Texas Tech, Florida and Oregon, so the competition will be tough.

Dontaie Allen: Iowa State has gotten in the game to land this 6-foot-6, 185-pound forward out of Kentucky. According to the 247 database, Florida, Illinois, Pitt, Oklahoma, Auburn, Louisville and Iowa State all offered Allen on July 12 or 13, which means he is blowing up on the AAU circuit this summer.

OTHER NOTES

KANE ON KAI: A prior relationship (before he arrived at Iowa State) that James Kane had with Kai Jones of the Brewster Academy could give Iowa State a shot to land this 6-foot-10 four-star. However, things got a little dicey on Tuesday when Kansas offered. Still, Iowa State offered in the middle of June and appears to be in this one for the long haul.

JUCOs: Iowa State’s coaching staff will be represented at a JUCO tournament in Wichita this weekend. Don’t be surprised to see the Cyclones add one or two junior college prospects to the 2019 class. One is likely, for the class balance when Wigginton likely leaves after his sophomore season. It has more to do with casting as wide of a net as possible in a year where the recruiting season is pretty wide open.

OTHER NAMES: Iowa State is still recruiting the following names for 2019: Mario McKinney, Mylik Wilson, Luke Anderson and KyKy Tandy.