Former Iowa State guard Tamin Lipsey could be back on a college basketball court this season, and the next few days may decide it.
A preliminary injunction in the case involving Lipsey and roughly 90 other athletes could be granted soon, with the plaintiffs and the NCAA due to submit the necessary documents to Indiana’s Monroe County Circuit Court Judge Kara Krothe by Thursday. Sports law expert Mit Winter said he expects a fast ruling.
"I would assume it's going to happen quickly," Winter said. "Because some of the athletes that are playing in this case have games Saturday.
So, and I'm sure the attorneys in the case have made the judge aware of that. And so, I assume she's going to try and probably do something by Friday."
Winter said the athletes are seeking a ruling that would stop the NCAA from enforcing the rule in question against them and allow them to play a fifth season of college athletics this upcoming year.
"The athletes are asking the judge to say, 'NCAA, you cannot enforce that rule in that manner against these athletes, and they have to be allowed to play a fifth season of college athletics this upcoming year,'" Winter told Cyclone Alert. "So, that's in a nutshell, what it's boiling down to."
Because Krothe already granted a temporary restraining order in the same case, Winter said it would not be surprising if she sides with the athletes again. If she does, Winter expects the NCAA to appeal or seek a stay. If the NCAA wins that appeal or gets the stay, the injunction would no longer hold and the athletes would again be ruled ineligible.
On the Iowa State side, Aiden Flora took a humble route in the return game after having trouble seeing the ball under the lights at Kinnick Stadium. Flora, one of the Cyclones’ top weapons this season, told the staff he was having issues tracking punts and stepped out of the primary punt-return role. That pushed Omari Jackson back into the spot.
"I don't know what was going on, but my eyes just kind of felt like they weren't being able to track it very well," Flora said. "And I have a lot of confidence in Omari, so I was like, 'I don't want to risk it, and Omari is good to go back there.'"
Flora and Hayes both got punt-return reps in practice leading into Cy-Hawk, and Flora was also working through a minor ankle injury. Head coach Jimmy Rogers said Flora’s choice reflected who he is.
"For him to do that is just kind of like it's who he is," Rogers said. "He's willing to own a moment and that moment may be saying, I can't see it as well right now. I don't think it's like a cowardly thing, but Omari stepped to the table and is somewhat fearless, as you guys can see.
He's 5-foot-nothing, and he can play with the best of them. So I think he's pretty talented at it.
He's really natural at it. And I know he wants that opportunity, so he's going to continue to get it."
What happens in Week 3 against Bowling Green will be worth watching, especially if Flora is back in the punt-return role or if Hayes keeps gaining ground.
Iowa State also learned its Big 12 opener on Tuesday after the conference announced the Cyclones’ penultimate league game on Monday. T.J. Otzelberger’s team will open Big 12 play against Tommy Lloyd and Arizona on January 2 in Hilton Coliseum, and the Cyclones will face Kansas on the final Big Monday of the 2026-27 season.
Arizona is currently No. 2 in Bart Torvik’s early 2o27 efficiency rankings. The Wildcats are expected to lean on returning defenders Ivan Kharchenkov and Motiejus Krivas, while incoming freshman Caleb Holt adds wing athleticism and incoming transfer guard Derek Dixon joins the mix. RJ Godfrey is currently ineligible after previously winning another season of eligibility in court, leaving Arizona with a hole at forward.
In Otzelberger’s tenure at Iowa State, last season was the only year the Cyclones did not play a ranked Big 12 opponent in Hilton Coliseum before students returned to campus. Arizona would appear likely to be ranked by early January, with the Wildcats projected to challenge at the top of the Big 12 alongside Houston.
In Other News...
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 🡒]
Iowa State May Need This Breakout Guard Sooner Than It Can Get Him
Iowa States roster churn has already started to reshape the outlook for next season, with Joshua Jefferson going in the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft to the Brooklyn Nets and Milan Momcilovic testing the draft before ultimately ending up at Kentucky after withdrawing from the Cyclones. Those departures leave the backcourt and wing rotation looking different than the one that helped define the program recently, and they put even more attention on the younger pieces expected to absorb a bigger role.
Killyan Toure is one of the names now carrying real intrigue because of what he could become once he gets back on the floor. Recovering from shoulder surgery, he is expected to miss time until January, but Jon Rothstein has still pegged him as a potential breakout player for the 2026-27 season. For Iowa State, the challenge is obvious: there may be a real need for that upside before the calendar even turns, and the staff will have to wait and see how quickly his game can catch up once he returns. [Read more 🡒]