Iowa State's Percy Gibson will transfer

 Iowa State says that junior center Percy Gibson is leaving the program.

Cyclones coach Fred Hoiberg says Gibson intends to transfer to another school following the end of the spring semester.

Gibson, a 6-foot-9 native of Detroit, played in just 14 games for Iowa State last season despite the team's occasional struggles inside.

“I’d like to thank Coach Hoiberg and the rest of the coaches for the opportunity to play at Iowa State,” Gibson said. “I will take with me the memories and friendships created with my teammates. I also want to thank Iowa State’s fans for their support the last three years.”

The Cyclones also gave post player Daniel Edozie playing time over Gibson after forward Georges Niang broke his foot in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.

Iowa State will add promising junior college transfer Jameel McKay next season, a move that likely would have further cut into Gibson's playing time.

Gibson's departure will free up an extra scholarship for the Cyclones to use next season.

One has to wonder where Gibson will land. He was a high major prospect coming out of high school. Will he transfer closer to home or will he try and land at another major conference program? Gibson does have the skills to flourish in the right situation.

Report: Timberwolves may try to lure Hoiberg

The Minnesota Timberwolves are at a crossroads, The team will miss the playoffs again. Head coach Rick Adelman might step down and star forward Kevin Love might be traded,  force his way out of town or play out his contract, which is up after next season and leave in free agency.

The offseason focus will undoubtedly be on what happens with Love, but the coaching situation bears watching. With Adelman possibly stepping down it would be natural that team president Flip Saunders would come down from his executive suite and coach the team. But Saunders may have had enough of the sidelines and might opt to stay behind the scenes. One name that has been mentioned as a possible replacement for Adelman is Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg.

ESPN's Marc Stein mentioned that Hoiberg, who is a former Timberwolves executive, could be in the mix for the job if Adelman chooses to leave.

Widely regarded as the most NBA-ready college coach in the game, Hoiberg was a Wolves executive for four years before leaving the pros to coach the Cyclones. It should be noted that Saunders is close with Michigan State's Tom Izzo, as well, but the rumbles out of Sota are getting louder that the Wolves are going to court Hoiberg hard if they, as expected, have an opening. 

As much as the Wolves may like Hoiberg, I don't think Hoiberg likes Minnesota all that much. Hoiberg has put Iowa State basketball back on the map and he is beloved in Ames. They don't call him "The Mayor" for nothing. If Hoiberg ever gets the itch to coach in the NBA it'll be in a better situation than the possible mess he might inherit in Minnesota.  
    

Iowa State's Rhoads calls out schools trying to get prized recruit to flip

Iowa State doesn't get too many blue chip football recruits, so when they get a commitment from one they have to fight hard to keep it.

Hours after grabbing the national letter of intent from one of the most sought-after high school football players in the state, Iowa State football coach Paul Rhoads tossed jabs at a pair of teams that tried steering him away.

Rhoads talked up the future Cyclone and ripped schools trying to take him away.

“That’s Allen Lazard’s National Letter of Intent,” Rhoads said of his four-star crown jewel recruit. “Let me talk about Allen Lazard a little bit.”

“He’s not going to a school in northern Indiana,” Rhoads said of Lazard, a high school all-American. “Boy, they wasted a lot of time and money. He’s not going to another school in this state, who feverishly tried to call him about a half a dozen times in the last week.”

Rhoads isn't referring to Valparaiso and Northern Iowa. Those were shots directed at Notre Dame and Iowa for trying to steer Lazard away from Ames, Iowa.

“Much to the dismay of people in this room who wasted a lot of space and time challenging his words of commitment, he’s going right here to Iowa State University,” Rhoads added. 

Lazard is considered the crown jewel of Rhoads’ class and has been the subject of constant questions regarding his commitment to Iowa State. Lazard continued to visit Notre Dame after he first committed to Iowa State more than a year ago.

I can understand Rhoads' apparent frustration but he should know that recruit poaching goes on all the time. It's all a part of college football and if a school like Iowa State gets a player of Lazard's ilk, Rhoads can expect the big boys to keep coming after them.

Iowa players and coaches have items stolen out of locker room during rivalry game

Iowa won the game and the Cy-Hawk trophy but lost some personal possessions as the Hawkeyes left Ames with a 27-21 win.

Iowa’s football locker room was broken into and items were stolen during the Hawkeyes’ game with in-state rival Iowa State at Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday, The Des Moines Register reported on Sunday.

Iowa State University Police Chief Jerry Stewart, through a department spokesperson, said: "It involved personal property from the locker room and remains under investigation."

Iowa State police said the police report would not be available until at least Monday. No other details were provided.

ISU’s athletic department controls the facilities and utilizes a security firm to keep it secure. Neither athletic director from either school could be reached for comment.

Iowa assistant coach Levar Woods was one of the victims and tweeted the following:

“Sorry to anyone that tried to call/text me last night w/o a response, but my phone came up missing from the ISU locker room after the game.”

Palo dismissed from Iowa State basketball team

Iowa State senior guard Bubu Palo, who missed most of last season due to suspension, was dismissed from the Cyclones’s program on Saturday, the school announced.

Palo, a 6-1 guard from Ames, was suspended 18 games last season after second degree sexual abuse charges were filed against him in May, 2012.

The charge was later dropped, but Palo was also subject to the school’s code of conduct policy.

Initially, he was found innocent of a violation of that code of conduct, but that finding was appealed by an unknown party this summer.

The original decision was then overturned and, according to the release, “the university has determined Palo can no longer be a member of the basketball team.”

Palo’s dismissal leaves three point guards to contend for a position played by Korie Lucious last season — Marshall transfer DeAndre Kane, freshman Monte Morris and holdover Naz Long.