QB: Austen Arnaud (So.)
RB: Alexander Robinson (So.)
TE: Derrick Catlett (Jr.)
WR: Marquis Hamilton (Jr.)
WR: RJ Sumrall (Sr.)
WR: Sedrick Johnson (Fr.)
LT: Matt Hulbert (So.)
LG: Reggie Stephens (Jr.)
C: Alex Alvarez (So.)
RG: Ben Lamaak (So.)
RT: Doug Dedrick (Sr.)

The readers have spoken, and this is the lineup you guys wish to see to start out the season against the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State.  There aren't any real big surprises from the readers, save maybe Reggie Stephens at left guard. It's still anyone's guess who will start at center between Mike Knapp and Alex Alvarez. And, if Sedrick Johnson is as good as advertised, it'd be hard to imagine him not starting, as guys like Jason Carlson and Wallace Franklin are still pretty much question marks.

I still have to believe many of the positions on offense will occur in a playing time by committee fashion. I fully expect Austen Arnaud and Philip Bates to split time at quarterback, while Alexander Robinson, JJ Bass, and Jason Scales will all get meaningful time at runningback.

Needless to say, if last year's offensive line improvement showed anything about Coach MacFarland's skill, and Gene Chizik's claim that he's the best offensive line coach in America - plus the fact that we're reportedly having the redshirt freshman from last year outplay the starters from last year - we're going to be able to move the ball better than we had. We saw what happened last year when we finally got ahold of the offensive system. 

The Spring Game was kind of painful to watch, but it was reportedly the worst "practice" of the spring for the offense. They'll have a smooth enough learning curve at the beginning of the year with South Dakota State, but let's hope the incoming freshmen make a bit of a push.

I got to play with the player tag function in this story. It's pretty powerful and it's going to be very useful.

QB: Austen Arnaud (So.)
RB: Alexander Robinson (So.)
TE: Derrick Catlett (Jr.)
WR: Marquis Hamilton (Jr.)
WR: RJ Sumrall (Sr.)
WR: Sedrick Johnson (Fr.)
LT: Matt Hulbert (So.)
LG: Reggie Stephens (Jr.)
C: Alex Alvarez (So.)
RG: Ben Lamaak (So.)

In the eleventh part of our little CloneChronicles experiment, I'm asking the readers to decide on ISU's fall starting lineup. Ben Lamaak started at right tackle during the 2007 season, but the coaches (and the readers) have moved him in to right guard. During the spring game, senior Doug Dedrick, last year's starter at left tackle, started at right tackle. A JUCO transfer last year, Dedrick is slightly undersized, but performed relatively well protecting Bret Meyer's blindside. He'll likely face the strongest competition for the spot from redshirt freshman Trey Baysinger and true freshman Adrin Haughton.

Dedrick: 6-3, 288, Sr.
Baysinger: 6-3, 316, So.
Haughton: 6-4, 323, Fr.

If Dedrick wins the job from CloneChronicles readers, it'd make for just the second senior in the starting lineup. With the enormous dead period for Iowa State that is the summer, I plan on focusing on the defense next, where more jobs may be up for grabs - but we'll have to see how much I like fooling around with SBN 2.0 first.

So who's it going to be - the wily senior, or one of two freshman?

The truth is somewhere in the middle.

That's what I've come to believe after reading and watching statements from Greg McDermott, Wesley Johnson, and various members of the basketball team.

Greg McDermott stated that the transfer was a total "shock". If Wesley had honestly told him he was unhappy at midseason, shock isn't the word I would use.

Wesley Johnson apparently signed a lease for an apartment and put his name down for a scholarship, both in the first week of May. I first heard rumors of Wes transferring on May 5.

I think I'm handling this situation better than most Cyclone fans, due to the fact I've been expecting it for half a month.

Honestly, there's no point in Iowa State or Wes Johnson (or me or the Des Moines Register or whoever) dragging this out that much longer. It's well known that Wes was unhappy with his relationship with Coach Mac. And, although he didn't handle this in the best fashion, trust me, as a twenty year old kid in college, changing your mind at the drop of a hat is not unchartered territory.

Grant the release, Iowa State. By not doing so, it just extends the focus on a basketball program that has been unsuccessful, and has faced numerous issues with players, player retention and player relations.

The Iowa State men's basketball team essentially is starting back at square one, and this time, I'll buy it. With seven new players hitting the floor this year, this is when a climb can begin, and we will be able to see, in terms of in-season progress, if McDermott is worth his salt.

Wes will end up, well, wherever.  He's no longer a Cyclone, and as long as he doesn't transfer to a future opponent, there's no point in holding him back.

It's time to trust in Craig Brackins and Diante Garrett as experienced youngsters and Bryan Petersen and Sean Haluska as seniors. Next season may not be pretty, but as Iowa State fans, I guess we've got to hold onto hope....

QB: Austen Arnaud (So.)
RB: Alexander Robinson (So.)
TE: Derrick Catlett (Jr.)
WR: Marquis Hamilton (Jr.)
WR: RJ Sumrall (Sr.)
WR: Sedrick Johnson (Fr.)
LT: Matt Hulbert (So.)
LG: Reggie Stephens (Jr.)
C: Alex Alvarez (So.)

Our second straight rather curious result in this little endeavor, as you, the fans (or something) feel that second string center Alex Alvarez should get the nod as the starter over the spring game starter Mike Knapp. Alvarez was one of Chizik's first commits, while Knapp is a walkon who is definitely undersized compared to the other two.

Our next position battle will be at right guard, where former starting right tackle Ben Lamaak has been taking reps. A member of the Big 12 Freshman team, Lamaak overcomes his goofiness (if you've ever seen him, you know what I mean) with decent enough blocking skills. He'll contend with Brandon Johnson and possibly Kelechi Osemele for the spot.

Ben Lamaak 6-4, 320 (So.)
Brandon Johnson 6-3, 311 (Sr.)
Kelechi Osemele 6-5, 333 (Fr.)

I would expect the all-Big 12 guy to get this one.

No, it's not more bad news for Iowa State's athletics programs...

If you have taken a jaunt around the SBNation blogosphere, whatsoever, you'll have noticed that most of the blogs have upgraded to a newer, shinier platform. A couple of my favorites, SouthSideSox and StampedeBlue are already on the new platform.

So, a week from today, CloneChronicles will get a whole new look, as well as a whole lot of new features. I encourage all of you to take a look at some other blogs and check out the features. It'll provide a much cleaner setup from my end, as well as many more resources at our fingertips. Moreover, it will provide for greater fan interaction. You guys will dig it. For now, a sneak peek at what we've got prepared right now:

I've gotten to play around with SBN 2.0. If you visit some other blogs, you can too. It's pretty freakin' awesome.

Bumped from the diaries.

In his novel 1984 George Orwell wrote, "If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face...forever."  Well, that was the first quote that popped into my head when I heard that Wesley Johnson was transferring.

It seems that ever since 2001 Cyclone basketball has been nothing but a glimmer of hope followed by the ever familiar boot stamping on our faces once again.  A second consecutive Big 12 championship is followed by flameouts to Baylor and Hampton.  Watching Jake Sullivan gamely try to run the offense from the point guard position can pretty much define the next few years of bad to below average teams who had a few moments but could never do better than the NIT.  

Throughout it all there was always the same refrain, "yeah, but look at the incoming players.  We'll be decent next year, good the year after that, and the year after that...look out."  The thing is, players like Jerome Harper or Chris Alexander or the Russian dude either never showed up or disappeared as soon as they did.  Just when the next supposedly great class was coming in we had the humiliation of the Eustachy pictures and it felt like we would never win a game again as coach after coach turned us down and an entire class threatened to never set foot in Ames.

Eventually we settled on Wayne Morgan and that class did show some promise, making a run to the NIT Final Four and the NCAA tournament 2nd round before crashing and burning just when expectations were beginning to be raised in that infamous "look out!" third year.  The defections continued unabated as Morgan was canned after that season.

McDermott was brought in to bring stability to the program and return it to the tournament.  I wasn't nearly as ecstatic about the hire as some people but I was willing to give him a chance because what other choice did we have?  Unfortunately the list of players leaving continued to grow longer.  We watched as players like Tasheed Carr and Shawn Taggart made valuable contributions to other schools at positions where we desperately needed the help.  Despite all of that we were once again hearing the familiar refrains of "we'll be better next year, good the year after that, then we'll bring in Harrison Barnes and look out!"  During this season I said that the biggest factor in McDermott's success or failure at ISU would be if he would able to keep players in the program.

You know it's spring when two things begin to pop up: dandelions and transfer rumors at Iowa State.  The familiar rumor cycle began, "I heard from a friend of a friend..."  followed closely by "I'll believe it when I see some proof..."  Unfortunately, more often than not, these rumors have been spot on.  This morning I saw the rumors and this afternoon I saw it was official.  Just like that Wesley Johnson was gone, taking with him almost any bit of optimism a Cyclone fan could muster.

This may have been the cruelest of them all.  Here was a kid who came out of nowhere who suddenly was dominating at every position he played.  He was an athletic freak who could out jump the big guys and out shoot the guards.  The type of player who could be the difference maker or the spark to reignite a program.  It was just a week ago that I looked at who was coming back in the rest of the Big 12.  Despite all of my built-in defense mechanisms I actually began to think that maybe we could actually get into the top half of the conference with a  few breaks.  "If Wes could stay healthy, if Lucca is as good as people say, if Brackins develops...if, if if."

Ha, I should have known.  Lucy will once again pull the football away from Charlie Brown, the boot will stamp on that face, and Iowa State basketball will always be three years away from "look out!"  Well, I'm still looking.

So, the question is, where do we go from here?  McDermott has done nothing to convince me that my earlier concerns were unfounded but I don't see firing him now as accomplishing anything.  Iowa State once again finished in the top 25 for basketball attendance but how long will fans show up for a crappy product?  Unfortunately, transfers like this keep pushing back the timetable of when actual results will be seen and it's getting tougher and tougher for me to see things ending well.  All I see is that damn boot.

Something I've been hearing for a while, but today it became official.

Look at TCU and Kentucky as possible destinations.

I don't have much computer access til later today, but it's another mark against McDermott.

QB: Austen Arnaud (So.)
RB: Alexander Robinson (So.)
TE: Derrick Catlett (Jr.)
WR: Marquis Hamilton (Jr.)
WR: RJ Sumrall (Sr.)
WR: Sedrick Johnson (Fr.)
LT: Matt Hulbert (So.)
LG: Reggie Stephens (Jr.)

So, in one of the first real "upsets" of this little experiment, CloneChronicles readers selected returning starter Reggie Stephens over Kelechi Osemele, the spring game starter at left guard. Center may also present that same scenario. Last year's starter, Brandon Johnson, was the #2 right guard during the spring game, leaving Mike Knapp to start.

Mike Knapp 6-3, 275 (Jr.)
Alex Alvarez 6-2, 308 (So.)
Brandon Johnson 6-3, 311 (Sr.)

I threw Johnson in as the returner, but, really, it seems to be between Knapp and Alvarez to start the year. Knapp is a former walkon that looked decent enough during the spring game. Alvarez was one of Chizik's first recruits and is now being groomed at center.

The title of this Des Moines Register story says so, but the article doesn't mention anything. The 6-1 senior to be averaged over 13 points a game for the Hawkeyes this past year.

I would love Freeman on this team because of his ability to score, but I'm not sure how the scholarship situation would shake out. While it wouldn't be crazy to expect another Cyclone defection, it would also be strange to burn a scholarship for two years for just one year on the court. If he could walk-on, though, you have to take him in a heartbeat. We'd have a nice looking guard court in a couple of years.

QB: Austen Arnaud (So.)
RB: Alexander Robinson (So.)
TE: Derrick Catlett (Jr.)
WR: Marquis Hamilton (Jr.)
WR: RJ Sumrall (Sr.)
WR: Sedrick Johnson (Fr.)
LT: Matt Hulbert (So.)

Continuing in the one of the more difficult parts of this little experiment, we move on to the battle for left guard. With our little redo at left tackle, we went with sophomore Matt Hulbert, narrowly edging out freshman Trey Baysinger. At the guard spot, we have a returning starter against another redshirt who was held in high esteem.

Kelechi Osemele 6-5, 333 (Fr.)
Reggie Stephens 6-3, 331 (Jr.)

Alex Alvarez has also been mentioned at guard in the past, although it's a lot more evident he's getting snaps at center.

Stephens has gotten starts in the past, but K.O. was among the most highly regarded of all the redshirts that were supposedly playing better than the O-Line that was starting for us last year.

So, who is it? The returning starter or the hot-shot frosh?