More photos » Nati Harnik - AP

Iowa State's Lucca Staiger, drives past Nebraska's Lance Jeter, in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, in Lincoln, Neb., Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010. It would be Staiger's last game as a Cyclone. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

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German national Lucca Straiger practiced with his Iowa State teammates on Monday, two days after Saturday's victory over Nebraska.

He showed no signs that that practice would be his last with the team.

Tuesday morning he went into ISU coach Greg McDermott's office and told McDermott that he was leaving the team.  That he already had a plane ticket back to his native country and that he had already agreed to play in a German professional league.

Everyone in Ames is shocked.  Nobody saw it coming. 

In Straiger's statement he said that he thought the timing was perfect for him financially and professionally and thanked the Cyclone fans for their support.

Cyclones fans did not reciprocate the admiration.

After The Jump, links to various articles from our SB Nation brethren Clone Chronicles detailing all aspects of Straiger's departure (and anytime someone takes the time to translate a German article, even using Google Translator, within a post, it is worth a read.)

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114-1 We've been hearing lots about the Big 12's record at home, especially now that the national outlets have caught on.

But I have a question for you, Iowa State fans, how does it feel to hear that stat?  I am not trying to rub it in, just trying to figure out if my team were the "1" in "114-1" if it would hurt each time I saw the stat.

So, ISU fans, or fans in general, if a stat like that was shown over and over again, would you be on cloud 9 knowing you are a part of the 114 or would you feel the pain that you were the 1?

Charlie Neibergall - AP

Iowa State's Craig Brackins, a preseason Wooden Award candidate, averaged 25.0 points and 11.0 rebounds on the week.

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IRVING, Texas – For the first time in Big 12 history, Iowa State men’s basketball players swept the weekly Big 12 awards handed out by the conference office. Junior Craig Brackins was named Big 12 Player of the Week, his fourth of his career, and senior Marquis Gilstrap earned Big 12 Rookie of the Week honors for Nov. 16-22.

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Phillips averaged 21.1 points and 5.0 rebounds while leading his prep team to a 21-1 mark in his senior campaign. He will be a junior next year for the Cyclones.

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DeMarcus Phillips, a junior college guard who was named Wisconsin’s 2008 Player of the Year, signed a letter of intent to play basketball at Iowa State beginning in the 2010-11 season, ISU head coach Greg McDermott announced today.

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I would like to branch out on a topic I read in Dan Shanoff's Wake Up Call (which if you don't read gives you a great daily snapshot on the day that is in sports).

Shanoff asked why Ames, IA product, and consensus #1 recruit, Harrison Barnes, would shy away from his hometown Iowa State Cyclones and learn towards playing basketball at Duke and North Carolina.

Shanoff asks "given that Barnes is obviously a one-and-done player, why not stay home, be The Guy and try to do something special in-state. At Duke or UNC, he's just another star recruit."

I LOVE THIS TRAIN OF THOUGHT!

Barnes is in an atypical situation, one in where he hails from a college-town that hosts a school in a top flight conference.  One where the program hasn't had a winning conference record since Barnes was in 7^th grade.

Now having grown up in a college town myself, I can tell you that all everyone ever talks about in the city is the school.  Mothers and grandmothers, who otherwise wouldn't care about sports know the names of the starting QB and PG at the school.  Any day you walk the halls of any high school in a college town you will see 50% of the kids wearing gear from the school.  The school is the city and the city is the school.

Barnes has the passion for his home school, even though he might not realize it yet.  Regardless of where he goes he will come back to visit friends in the future and go to an ISU football or basketball game.  In the very least he will follow them in the papers and talk about them in passing to casual acquaintances. 

And forget about how he can help them in his one year, he can help the future of the program as well.  He can take the school and put it on the mind of all the AAU and summer camp circuit players he interacts with.  If he becomes what they think he might, he can be the greatest recruiting tool the school has ever seen.

Think Michael Beasley and how he put K State on the map.  Barnes can do the same thing, but with more credibility because of his local upbringing. 

If basketball doesn't pan out, because he will have grown up with everyone in Ames, he will be able to be the poster child for the school, instead of another in a line of "what ifs"  If basketball does pan out, then all the more reason why he would want to be the face of a program and school.

And it isn't like he won't get national publicity by staying home.  Sure, Dickie V might not scream his name as loud as if he were in the ACC, but Big Monday would pick up an inordinate amount of Cyclones games and he would get his national press when he starts performing.

Now just to clarify, I am not saying that every one and doner should go to a school that has been struggling.  I am saying that in Barnes' situation, the clear minded, obvious choice is to remain at home... have some home cooking... hang out with friends for another year... then make the same tens of millions of dollars you would by going to Duke or Carolina.

I don't have any precise stats, but I can't imagine that going to either of the ACC powerhouses increases your draft chances.  Last year the first Duke player (Gerald Henderson) went 12^th and the top Tar Heel (Tyler Hansbrough) went 13^th.  This was after kids were drafted out of non-powerhouse schools like Arizona State and Davidson.

The year before nobody was drafted from either school and in 2007 a Tar Heel went #8, but Duke didn't have a name called until the 37^th pick... long after NBA commish David Stern had handed over his podium duties.

In that 2007 draft before Josh Roberts' name was called with that 37^th pick, players from school such as Washington, Texas A&M, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Eastern Washington, Colorado State, DePaul, Rice, Oregon, Wisconsin, Purdue, Nevada and Alabama were called.

If you are telling me that someone from Eastern Washington could be drafted ahead of the first Blue Devil, I am telling you that your choice of school has zero impact on your draft status.

If Barnes goal was to finish out his degree, that would also be a different story.  Duke is one of the top educational institutions in the nation, and Carolina regularly ranks near the top of best public universities, so going to either of those for a degree would make sense.  However, from all reports, he wont be there 4 years, and probably wont even make it to his second year, so the educational aspect should have no bearing on his decision. 

So, with all that said, I see no reason that Harrison Barnes should attend any university outside of his hometown.  Although having him outside of the Big 12 North may give my alma matter, Mizzou, a better chance at 2 more Ws.

In a recurring piece leading up to the start of the basketball season, we will examine the top 5 questions surrounding each Big 12 basketball team.

Today, the top 5 questions for the Iowa State Cyclones.

1)       Can Craig Brackins get any help, or will it again be a one man show?

2)       Can the Cyclones crack the top half of the Big 12 North division?

3)       Is there still "Hilton Magic" in Ames?

4)       One publication listed Greg McDermott as being on the "hot seat."  What does he need to do to get off it?

5)       After 4 straight conference seasons with a losing record, can the Cyclones better the .500 mark this year?

Check back tomorrow when we will ask Five Question For... Kansas State basketball.
Also check out Five Questions For... Missouri, Kansas, Colorado

Follow Evan on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MizzouHoops

Iowa State junior guard Lucca Staiger is competing for the German A1 National Team at the European Basketball Championships.

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AMES, Iowa- Iowa State junior guard Lucca Staiger is competing for the German A1 National Team at the European Basketball Championships, Sept. 7-20 in Poland. Staiger, a native of Blaustein, Germany, has played all summer on various German basketball teams. He was invited to the A1 tryouts and survived the final cut.

His German squad lost yesterday to France, 70-65 in regular-season competition at the European Championships. France was led by NBA All-Stars Tony Parker and Ronny Turiaf, who scored 19 and 15 points, respectively. Staiger had one assist in three minutes of action. Germany will face Russia today.

It has been a busy summer for the Cyclone. Staiger played on the German U20 National team which competed at the World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia in June. He led his team in scoring at 13.4 points and made 21-55 from 3-point range (38.0 percent) in the tournament. He also represented his country at the Munster Cup and Netherlands Tournament.

Staiger averaged 8.2 points and connected on a team-high 74 3-pointers for the Cyclones in 2008-09. He ranked sixth in the Big 12 in 3-pointers made per game and his 74 treys is the seventh-best season total in school history. The junior will return to Ames after Germany finishes its competition at the European Championships.

You can follow all the action at the European Championships at this live stats link: www.eurobasket2009.org.

(ISU SID)

"The schedule is a result of having experience back, because we expect a challenge in the non-conference part of our schedule. I feel like we put together an adequate number of home games for the challenges we face away and during the Big 12 portion of our schedule."

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Expectations

With unprecedented hype in the Greg McDermott/Craig Brackins era, the Cyclones will need their play to match up with expectations for the year, but the much improved schedule will showcase Iowa State basketball nicely.

"We have more pieces in place from an experience stand point … With recruiting and the newcomers to the team, it’s natural for those expectations to be high," McDermott said.