Iowa State men’s basketball: K.J. Bluford will transfer from the Cyclones

Iowa State men’s basketball head coach, Fred Hoiberg, announced on Sunday that K.J. Bluford will be transferring from the team.

Dec 2, 2013; Ames, IA, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach Fred Hoiberg signals to his team during their game against the Auburn Tigers at James H. Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones beat the Tigers 99-70. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports

From the Cyclones.com official press release:

"“I appreciate the time and effort that K.J. gave to our program,” Hoiberg said. “He has elected to transfer to find a program that will allow him more playing time. I wish him the best in the future and will assist him in any way I can.”Bluford  joined the Cyclones this season after transferring from Northeast Community College in Nebraska. He played in seven games during the first semester, averaging 2.7 points in 5.4 minutes per contest."

With so much talent that now comes into the program, some really good players won’t see the playing time that they want. For Bluford, he unfortunately saw the short end of the stick when players like Monte Morris and Shannon Dorsey-Walker stepped up on the bench.

The most time the junior guard saw was 14 minutes against UMKC and 13 minutes against UNC-Wilmington. He never saw playing time against Michigan, BYU, UNI, or Iowa. He saw a total of one minute during their trip to Hawai’i, and that was during the end of the Akron blowout.

Since Bluford was supposed to be a threat from the perimeter, likely his 2 of 8 start from the 3-point line against UNC-Wilmington and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi combined, along with his 2 of 8 performance against UMKC, put him at a disadvantage.

We wish K.J. Bluford the best of luck.