On Thursday morning, Iowa State fans are going to pick up the newspaper and read about Lucca Staiger, their latest commitment. After getting an outline sketch of him from The Des Moines Register, the paper that broke the story, inevitably they’ll want to know more.
Well, here’s what we’ve got. Staiger is a 6-foot-5 wing who will play at Decatur (Ill.) Decatur Christian. He hasn’t played many games of high school ball in the United States to date, but he has played on U.S. turf. In fact, he participated in the 2006 adidas Superstar Camp in Suwannee, Ga., and we just happened to catch his act there.
Here’s the excerpt from our July 6 coverage of the camp:
Lucca Staiger, SF, Germany – There’s an entire team of foreign players here (always is) but few seem to matriculate to the States. Last year Cal nabbed a point from this camp and Staiger is our pick to make it to a U.S. college from this group. Heck, he’s halfway there already. He’s going to Worthington (Ohio) High next season so he’s halfway there. He’s got feel for the game and a stroke. Nobody’s recruiting him and we probably won’t get another look at him but remember the name.
Staiger was likely invited to the camp via a connection with Detlef Schrempf, the former NBA player who has been a presence at the adidas Camp the past few seasons.
As we relayed back in July, this is a young man with a feel for the game and stroke to play behind the 3-point line. He was good enough to play on the German national 20-and-under team the last 4 seasons.
Coming out of the camp, based on a one-time viewing, we regarded him as a potential high-major prospect so it comes as no surprise to see him commit to a major college program.
If our hunch proves correct then Iowa State just scored a significant commitment from a player who should factor prominently in the program’s plans the next fours seasons.