Central's Pomlee uncertain of role with Cyclones
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By Eric Page | Tuesday, June 10, 2008 |
A week ago, while in town for the Iowa State Tailgate Tour stop in the Quad-Cities, Cyclones men’s basketball coach Greg McDermott talked about Davenport Central’s L.A. Pomlee and what he expects from him as a freshman next season.
“We’re excited about him,” McDermott said. “From a rebounding standpoint and a shot-blocking standpoint, I think he’s Big 12 ready. We’re just going to have to work with him to develop some things on the offensive end of the floor.”
Pomlee, a 6-foot-8, 230-pound forward, dominated the Mississippi Athletic Conference inside last season, averaging 15.4 points and 10.1 rebounds while leading the Blue Devils to a 23-3 record and an Iowa Class 4A state runner-up finish.
But in the Big 12, he figures to have to change his game. He’s going to have to step out of the paint — he shot 63 percent scoring mostly inside as a high school senior — and develop his ball handling and a mid-range jump shot to keep opponents off balance.
“I think he has an understanding of the game to be able to develop that mid-range game — he certainly has the quickness and the athletic ability to do that,” McDermott said. “It’s just something that he wasn’t asked to do, nor was he required to do, in order to help his high school team win. He just did what he had to do to make Davenport Central the best team they possibly could be. Now it’s time for him to take his game to a different level.”
McDermott said he wasn’t sure at this point whether or not Pomlee, one of seven incoming freshmen, will redshirt his first season on campus. But that was last Thursday, and over the weekend, a thin Iowa State front line got a whole lot thinner when leading scorer Wesley Johnson announced he won’t return to Ames for his junior season.
Johnson was an athletic small forward who could score inside and out. Pomlee might be called on to log some of those minutes.
“That changes a lot,” Pomlee said, “but as a new recruit with the other recruits coming in, I think we’ll just have a bigger role.
“I really don’t know how I’m going to fit in yet, really not having played with the guys. But I’m going to try to find my role on the team and do well in my role.”
Pomlee didn’t commit to Iowa State until the signing period this spring. He narrowed his choices to Wisconsin, West Virginia and ISU but wanted to wait until after the high school season to make his decision.
Part of the delay was because, after a breakout sophomore season, he was forced to sit out his junior year because of a blood clot in his leg. McDermott said he saw Pomlee grow, personally and athletically, as a result of that adversity.
“I just think he had much more passion for the game and was more focused about where he wanted to go,” McDermott said.
“It helped me realize that I won’t be playing this game forever,” Pomlee said, “that God can take it away at any given moment. It taught me not to take it for granted. I keep that in my head every time I step on the court.”
Eric Page can be contacted at (563) 383-2277 or epage@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.
Iowa state recruits
Seven players have signed to play basketball at Iowa State next season:
Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. Hometown (School)
Dominique Buckley G 6-2 190 Fr. Detroit (Romulus)
Scott Christopherson* G 6-3 200 So. La Crosse, Wis. (Aquinas)
Wes Eikmeier G 6-3 175 Fr. Fremont, Neb. (Archbishop Bergan)
Justin Hamilton C 6-11 220 Fr. Alpine, Utah (Lone Peak)
Clinton Mann F 6-7 220 Fr. Overland Park, Kan. (St. Thomas Aquinas)
L.A. Pomlee F 6-8 230 Fr. Davenport (Central)
Jamie Vanderbeken# C 6-11 240 Jr. Belleville, Ontario (Quinte)
* Transfer from Marquette
# Transfer from Tyler (Texas) Junior College
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