Peterson: Talen Horton-Tucker said to resemble former Iowa State stars Niang, Nader and Morris

AMES, Ia. — Talen Horton-Tucker is a cross between Georges Niang, Abdel Nader and Monte Morris. Those lofty comparisons came to me from someone who knows a thing or two about recruiting and who’s seen Iowa State’s latest men’s basketball commitment play, both in person and on video.

Horton-Tucker’s got the IQ craftiness of Niang, the former Cyclones star everyone got to know so well. He’s got the body and shooting stroke that Nader had during his senior season while playing for Steve Prohm. Nader, by the way, plays for the Boston Celtics.

Morris? He’s got Monte’s ability to beat defenders off the dribble. He can break down a defense, and did I mention that T-H-T is just 16?

More:Top-60 forward Talen Horton-Tucker becomes fourth 2018 commit for Iowa State

By Year Two of his college career, the latest Chicago addition to a very good ISU recruiting class could be well on his way to becoming a significant factor in the Big 12 Conference.

Still wondering if the former Murray State coach can recruit with the Power Five biggies? Let me help you.

He can.

He has.

And does.

The Cyclones’ third-season coach already had a very good 2018-19 recruiting class, even before Horton-Tucker committed Thursday night. The addition of the nation’s No. 54 player, according to rivals.com, added an exclamation point to the Cyclones’ next recruiting class and sent a loud boom throughout Chicago.

Credit Prohm and his staff for staying persistent in recruiting the 6-foot-5, 210-pound forward, while he was said to be mentally flipping between Iowa State and Illinois. He even said his final decision came 15 minutes before his announcement.

Prohm didn’t flinch as less-than-informed message boarders predicted he’d be choosing Illinois, then Iowa State, then Xavier, then Illinois again — and finally the Cyclones.

Prohm saw a recruit he felt would be good for his team. He didn’t back down. He stayed the course, as he often says, while stuff played out in Illinois.

He got his young man.

Prohm got another very good recruit from the Windy City — and that’s all that matters.

Horton-Tucker averaged 13.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists and shot 43 percent while playing with the Mac Irvin Fire club team last spring. His game picked up when he joined another club team in July, where he averaged 18.2 points, seven rebounds and shot 42 percent in five games.

I don’t know if Horton-Tucker, a four-star recruit, is as good as everyone says he is. I suspect he is, otherwise he wouldn’t have been choosing between Iowa State and Illinois and Xavier.

Once he signs an early national letter of intent next month, Horton-Tucker will join two other Cyclones from the Windy City area: Hinsdale’s Zion Griffin and Corliss’ George Conditt. Prohm’s other 2018-19 commit is Tyrese Haliburton, a talented wing player from Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

“It’s nice being around all the guys,” Horton-Tucker told the Register a couple Fridays ago at Hilton Madness. “I get along with them.

“Three Illinois guys — that’s nice. Coming to school with somebody I know would be good.”

Will be good — not only for Horton-Tucker, but also for Iowa State.

Iowa State columnist Randy Peterson has been with the Register for parts of five decades. Randy writes opinion and analysis of Iowa State football and basketball. You can reach Randy at rpeterson@dmreg.com or on Twitter at @RandyPete.