McGee makes his commitment to Cyclones

Arkansas City (Kan.) Cowley County Community College guard Tyrus McGee committed to Iowa State Tuesday afternoon. The 2011 combo guard prospect met in person with ISU head coach Fred Hoiberg at the junior college to deliver a face-to-face commitment to the new Cyclone coach.

"Tyrus wanted to make sure he told Coach Hoiberg in person that he wanted to be a Cyclone," Cowley County Head Coach Tommy DeSalme said about 1:45 Tuesday afternoon. "It just happened, they are probably still walking around talking about it. Coach Hoiberg has really been hands on with Tyrus through the whole process and that just continued with today.

"If he had waited longer, I think he would have had the opportunity to get more offers and take more visits," DeSalme added. "There were a lot of bigger schools that had come through and seen him and were asking about him. We talked about it a while back and I suggested he narrow it down to a top three that have done the best job of getting to know you. If he was ready, take visits, and that's what he did. He loved every place he visited. It was a difficult choice for him."

McGee took official visits to Iowa State, Wichita State and Creighton the past three successive weekends. Coach DeSalme said McGee came home from Omaha saying he was ready to make a decision.

"He came in Sunday night and he was just worn out, tired of everything," said DeSalme. "I told him to spend the night thinking about it. Take everything away except for what is deep down in your heart. First, where do you see yourself going to school and two, where do you see yourself playing basketball? Same thing I told him when I was recruiting him here. I told him if you can't say there is a place that is it, we'll tell everybody you're not ready and you're going to sign in the spring.

"He came in Monday and said he wanted to be a Cyclone," added DeSalme. "It was really the relationship that had developed with Coach Hoiberg over the process of a few months. It wasn't a done deal just because Iowa State was a BCS school. Tyrus is a special kid and that isn't as important to him as what feels like home and feels right."

The 6-foot-2. 190-pound McGee is a native of Stringtown, Oklahoma. He was also offered by TCU and Colorado, according to Coach DeSalme. McGee averaged 16.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game as a freshman for Cowley County. He shot just under 50 percent from the floor and 44 percent from three-point range.