When they had Easley on, Kulick said he thought that same thing about Nick. Easley was a walkon from IWCC, but he was announcing his Iowa committment on twitter (having already announced a prior committment to ISU on twitter). Drake said he thought Easley was gonna be a douche. But as soon as Easley got on board, and everyone saw how he worked, Easley was immediately welcomed.
The WUWs talked about how hard it can be for someone to fit in when they have not been there from the jump. Players that have been immersed in the culture for 3-4 years have a hard time accepting someone who gets in late. These guys go through hell, especially as freshman. If you miss that experience, you just get looked at differently. Easley was obviously able to make it work through a combination of his attitude and production. The WUWs mentioned Oliver Martin's season this year as an example that it can be tough for players to get up to speed, culture-wise. I am not sure if that is speculation on their part, or if that is coming from sources on the team.