Iowa State may have lost a chunk of the star power that powered its 2025-26 run to the Sweet 16, but Jon Rothstein thinks the Cyclones already have a future centerpiece waiting in the wings.
That player is Killyan Toure.
Rothstein included Toure on his list of 15 players he believes will become stars during the 2026-27 college basketball season, and the Iowa State guard was one of just two Big 12 players to make the cut, alongside BYU’s Robert Wright III.
For a player who is expected to miss about half the season, that is some serious praise. Toure underwent shoulder surgery this summer and is not expected back until January, which means he could miss the entire non-conference schedule and the first part of Big 12 play.
Iowa State opens conference action against Arizona on Jan. 2.
Even with that timeline, Rothstein is betting on a breakout once Toure gets back on the floor. And there is a real path for it.
As a freshman, Toure started all 37 games he appeared in and averaged 8.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 steals in 25.3 minutes per game. He was the kind of steady, do-it-all piece every good team needs.
Now the Cyclones need more from him.
Joshua Jefferson is gone after being selected in the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft by the Brooklyn Nets. Milan Momcilovic is off to Kentucky after the draft process didn’t work out for a return to Iowa State. And Tamin Lipsey, who was believed to have exhausted his eligibility, now has his name listed in the Indiana lawsuit for a fifth year.
That leaves a major opening for someone to seize a bigger role. Toure already showed he can handle more when asked. In three games Lipsey missed last season - against Creighton, Syracuse and Alcorn State - he averaged 17.3 points, 4.3 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 2.7 steals in 29.7 minutes, and Iowa State won all three.
He also delivered in the first NCAA tournament game of his career, piling up 25 points, 11 rebounds and six assists against Tennessee State when Jefferson went down with an injury.
That kind of production is why the buzz around Toure is real. Entering his second year under T.J. Otzelberger, he has the chance to grow into a much larger offensive role while already carrying a reputation as one of the best point-of-attack defenders in men’s college basketball.
If the breakout comes, it could happen fast. And Iowa State may already have its next star in place.
In Other News...
Tamin Lipseys Iowa State Future Now Hinges On One Decision
Former Iowa State guard Tamin Lipsey is waiting on a legal ruling that could shape what comes next in his college career. He is among the athletes involved in a case seeking a preliminary injunction that would allow players to compete in a fifth season, and the matter is now in the hands of Indiana's Monroe County Circuit Court Judge Kara Krothe, whose decision is expected soon.
For Iowa State, the outcome carries obvious interest because Lipsey was such a central piece of the program's recent success, and any chance to extend his college run would ripple beyond just one roster spot. Even as the legal process plays out, the Cyclones have moved on to other fall business, including adjustments in punt return roles and the release of the Big 12 schedule, but Lipsey's future remains one of the more closely watched unresolved storylines around the program. [Read more 🡒]
Former Cyclones Are Already Giving Iowa State Fans Plenty To Talk About
The first week of the 2026 NFL season gave Iowa State fans an early chance to keep tabs on a familiar crop of former Cyclones, and the results were hard to ignore. Breece Hall made a strong opening statement for the New York Jets with 102 rushing yards and a touchdown, while Brock Purdy turned in another steady day for the San Francisco 49ers with three passing touchdowns. For a fan base that has followed both players from Ames to the league, it was the kind of start that keeps the group text busy before the calendar even settles into September.
Elsewhere, the former Cyclones were spread across several games, adding to the list of storylines worth monitoring as the season gets rolling. The article also tracked snap counts and injury updates, a reminder that the NFL grind can change quickly even after one week, and that the opening stretch often reveals as much about role and availability as it does about raw production. For Iowa State supporters, the interest is not just in who flashed early, but in how many of these familiar names can keep building from here. [Read more 🡒]
Boston College Faces A Brutal Reality In The ACC Talent Race
Iowa States place in the broader college football money race looks a lot like the one it has fought for years: competitive enough to matter, but still operating in a world where roster-building dollars can separate the haves from the have-nots. A new look at estimated 2026 roster spending across Power 4 programs puts the focus on the schools at the lower end of the scale, and the Cyclones are part of that group alongside programs such as Boston College, Duke, Arizona and Cincinnati. The numbers are estimates, not confirmed figures, but the snapshot offers a useful read on how much latitude different schools may have as the sport keeps tilting toward financial muscle.
What makes the picture more interesting is how varied the reasons are behind those spending ranges. Donor motivation, athletic department priorities and recent coaching changes all play into where a program lands, which means the gap is not just about size or conference affiliation. For Iowa State, the key question is how far it can stretch in a talent market that keeps getting more expensive, especially if the schools around it are making their own push to close ground in the same recruiting and transfer spaces. [Read more 🡒]