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Kyle Meyer
Bio: RS Freshman, 6-10, 225 (Alpharetta, GA)
2012-13 stats: N/A (redshirt)
What we saw last season
Nothing. Meyer redshirted as a true freshman last year.
What we need to see this season
Not too much, frankly. Meyer was a bit of a project when he arrived at Iowa and he remains a bit of a project. Iowa's frontcourt is jammed with talent right now; between Woodbury, Olaseni, Basabe, McCabe, White, and Uthoff, minutes down low figure to be very precious commodities in 2013-14. Right now, Meyer doesn't have the experience or the skill-set to crack that rotation. I think what we need to see this season is, hopefully, a few glimpses of what Meyer can do -- or what he might be able to to given a bigger role in future seasons.
Right now, Meyer is part of the Bench Mob/Blowout Crew with Denning, Stokes, and Ukah; he's not part of the primary rotation of players. That's been clear since the European trip in August, where Meyer's minutes totals were almost identical to guys like Stokes and Denning. It was even more clear when he only saw 3 minutes of action in Iowa's exhibition win over Augustana.
As far as his game goes, there are a lot of question marks there because we've seen him play so little at Iowa so far. But my hunch is that he has a chance to fill McCabe's role on the team: as a hustle/effort guy who takes a lot of charges on defense (or tries to, anyway) and can stretch the floor a bit on offense as a long-range shooter. There were limited stats available from the European trip, but from what we was made available, he attempted three 3-pointers (making none) out of the limited number of shots he took overall. He also went 7/16 from deep in the PTL and he was hoisting treys like crazy at the Black and Gold Blowout. Granted, everyone was attempting 3s at the Blowout (even Woodbury attempted -- and made! -- a three pointer there), but Meyer does seem to like shooting from deep. If he's able to do so effectively, that could give Iowa a nice weapon and help them spread the floor more effectively. But, again, this is all very premature, given how little Meyer has played; we should know much more about his capabilities in 2014-15, when he figures to have a chance to earn a lot more playing time.
Best-case scenario
Meyer sends the CHA crowd into delirium after draining a few threes in blowout victories during the non-conference season and spends the Big Ten season developing an intricate handshake routine with Darius Stokes.
Most likely scenario
Meyer plays a handful of minutes in blowouts this season, attempts a few threes, picks up a few fouls, and makes a few dunks.
One request
I hope that Meyer really does develop into a good three-point shooter, just so we can use "The Alpharetta Assassin" as a nickname for him.