Iowa State walked into Big 12 Basketball Media Days with the kind of profile that makes everyone in the room pay attention.
The Cyclones have piled up 83 wins over the last three seasons, reached the Sweet 16 three times in the past six years and gone from rising program to established force. That kind of run has changed the conversation around T.J.
Otzelberger’s team. In Kansas City, the Cyclones weren’t being treated like a feel-good story.
They were being sized up like one of the league’s heavyweights.
“We’ve been fortunate every year to return at least four young men from our team the season prior,” sixth-year Iowa State Coach T.J. Otzelberger said.
“So for us, continuity has been huge. Everything starts with us at the end of the year with the guys who have been in our program.
As we look at our program, what we can do right now is get better every single day and I don’t know what past teams - certainly the pride and we’re thankful and grateful that young men have been in our program and everything they have done - right now the focus is on the guys that we have, get better every single day and then continue to elevate our program. I think for all of us, we have a responsibility to leave it in a better place.
That is for everybody that enters our program. Players, coaches, support staff.
That is what we will look to do and strive to do this year.”
That consistency has helped put Iowa State in a familiar place near the top of the league. The Cyclones were picked fourth in the Big 12 preseason coaches’ poll, sitting behind Arizona, Houston and Kansas - a trio that has all made a Final Four in the last five years. Iowa State is still chasing its first Final Four trip since 1944, but Otzelberger’s 124-53 record in five seasons has made the Cyclones a team opponents plan for.
“It’s a fun challenge,” senior forward Blake Buchanan said. “It’s a blessing to be that, have that position.
We want to take it as something that is exciting and fun. We know that sometimes we have a target on our back, so we just have to make sure that we come out every day right.”
The Cyclones’ core gives that target some substance. Last season, Iowa State finished third in the Big 12 regular season standings and won 29 games for the second time in three years. The returnees include Buchanan, who started 36 games, fellow starter Killyan Toure, who started 37, and sophomores Jamarion Batemon, Anthony Rise and Dominykas Pleta.
Toure is still coming back from a shoulder injury and is likely unavailable to open the season, but he made it clear the group isn’t shying away from the expectations attached to Iowa State’s recent success.
“We can play against tough teams and we like adversity,” said Toure. “We like to compete.
We have a lot of goals this year. We want to win everything, of course.
We have a good team for that. We just be ready for that and for our toughest games and even the games before.”
There’s also the wrinkle that could reshape the entire season: the possible return of Tamin Lipsey. The senior guard played two games in the NBA Summer League for the Indiana Pacers before an injury, and a September lawsuit challenging the NCAA’s age-based eligibility rule opened the door for him to come back. A temporary restraining order from an Indiana judge created that possibility, though an NCAA appeal could still stop him from playing.
Lipsey was a three-time all-conference selection last season and averaged 13.5 points, 5.1 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game. Otzelberger was clear about what that would mean for the Cyclones.
“Tamin has an uncanny ability to make everybody better when he is on the court,” Otzelberger said. “His presence, his leadership, the plays he makes, how he is able to distribute the basketball are things that not only our team, any team needs. Excited to get him back out there.”
That possible boost matters even more after Iowa State lost incoming freshman Christian Wiggins for the season. Wiggins, the Gatorade Minnesota Player of the Year, ruptured his Achilles tendon during summer workouts and will miss the entire year.
Lipsey did not play in Iowa State’s 83-80 exhibition loss to Creighton on Sunday at Hilton Coliseum. He is expected to play when the Cyclones go to Northwestern for a second exhibition next Sunday before opening the season against Memphis on Nov. 2 at Sioux Falls, S.D.
“We’re two weeks out from opening night,” Otzelberger said. “When you come here to Kansas City, it feels like it’s real, it’s about to get going.
This is one of those things each year that as it approaches and then you’re here, it’s ‘All right, the season is here. Let’s go.’”
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Iowa State May Have Found An Answer Inside After Preseason Loss
Iowa States first preseason test ended in an 83-80 loss to Creighton, but the Cyclones left with at least one encouraging sign from inside the rotation. Transfer forward Taj Manning wasted little time making an impression in his debut, scoring 13 points on perfect shooting from the field and adding five rebounds in a performance that fit the kind of inside presence Iowa State will be looking for as the season builds.
T.J. Otzelberger had plenty to like afterward, pointing to Mannings physicality, consistency and willingness to do the little things for the group. For a team that still has preseason questions to answer, that kind of early production from a newcomer matters, especially when it comes from a player expected to help steady the frontcourt once the games count for real. [Read more 🡒]
Tamin Lipsey Has A New Chance To Earn Iowa State Respect
Iowa State enters the 2026-27 season in a familiar spot near the top of the Big 12, opening at No. 18 in the AP Top 25 preseason poll and sitting fourth among league teams. The recognition continues to reflect a program that expects to compete nationally, even as the roster changes around it and players move into new roles.
Tamin Lipsey is one of the key reasons the Cyclones still have that kind of ceiling, with his name already surfacing as a potential All-America candidate. Former Cyclone Milan Momcilovics move to Kentucky after withdrawing from the 2026 NBA Draft and even drawing five AP Preseason All-America votes is a reminder of how much talent has passed through Ames, and it leaves Lipsey with a fresh opportunity to become the next Iowa State player to earn that kind of respect. [Read more 🡒]
Blake Buchanan Looks Like Iowa States Best Fit At Center Yet
Blake Buchanan is entering his second season at Iowa State with a very specific kind of offseason work on his mind. The 6-foot-10 center has added underwater workouts to help improve his mobility while also cutting down on the physical wear that can come with chasing the pace Iowa State wants to play, a fit that matters in a program built around pressure and defensive efficiency.
That emphasis is exactly why T.J. Otzelberger has kept circling back to Buchanan as a center who fits the Cyclones better than the heavier-footed options they have tried before. After transferring from Virginia, Buchanan appears to offer the mobility and defensive recognition Iowa State needs in the middle, and the next step is seeing how far that combination can carry him in a system that asks a lot from its big men. [Read more 🡒]