AMES – Joshua Jefferson rode his stationary bike day after day. With each rotation of his legs, he strengthened his body and the surgically repaired knee that prevented him from practicing with his new Iowa State men’s basketball teammates.
It must have been distressing.
After missing half a season at St. Mary’s due to injury, he arrived at his new program with true Final Four aspirations, only to be relegated to the sideline and that damn bike.
It offered Jefferson, however, a spectator’s perspective. As an observer. As a researcher.
And he came to a clear conclusion about his new team.
“They share the ball at an extreme rate. They play really hard,” Jefferson said Thursday, the day before the Cyclones’ final summer practice. “Very coachable players. We didn’t respond. We just do it.
“That’s my biggest takeaway: how hard and together they play.”
What Jefferson discovered throughout those practices was the Cyclones’ secret sauce under fourth-year coach TJ Otzelberger. Which, of course, isn’t that secret. Iowa State has made it to three consecutive NCAA Tournaments, a pair of Sweet 16s and a Big 12 Tournament championship based on a boring but incredibly difficult philosophy.
Do the hard work every day. And do it together. Whether it’s June, November or March. It doesn’t matter if you’re coming off a 2-22 record or in the preseason top 10. Do the work. Few things can bring people together than hard work in pursuit of a single goal.
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That’s who Iowa State basketball is under Otzelberger.
Yes, the players, the talent, the game plans and the sets are essential to success, but they all flow from this earned identity.
“Maybe the fact that you’re returning a lot of guys makes you feel like there’s a more defined base and foundation of how things need to go,” Otzelberger said, “but it’s still going to be the same challenge of doing it hard. work every day.
“Our people stay focused on the same thing we focused on last year – daily habits, we’re going to get better every day and we hope that can continue to drive us forward.”
We often hear coaches talk about how culture is built to help withstand difficult times and adversity. When problems arise, the culture needs to be rock solid to withstand it.
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But culture is also built for moments like the Otzelberger cyclones we are experiencing. There are no adversities. There are not even those who hate or doubt it. There’s just the pure, unadulterated, uncut enthusiasm and hope that comes in the offseason for a team whose fans can see play well into April. This presents its own challenge.
‘Culture’ can be a cliché that coaches and programs can hide behind to avoid prying eyes and unwanted scrutiny. It feels important and is vague enough that people can talk about it without ever having to demonstrate it.
But at the Sukup Basketball Complex, the Hilton Coliseum, the T-Mobile Center and anywhere else the Cyclones have dribbled a ball in the last three years, we’ve seen it.
This program prioritizes work above all else. That’s why it’s business as usual ahead of the most anticipated Cyclone season since at least 2015-16, when Georges Niang was entering his senior season.
“Just the things the coaches preach — they never change,” said junior guard Tamin Lipsey, who, along with Jefferson, was recently cleared to return to practice after undergoing surgery. “The standard continues to rise every year.”
Perhaps the biggest reason for optimism is the continuity Iowa State has in its backcourt with Lipsey, Keshon Gilbert and Curtis Jones (although the NBA prospects for wing Milan Momcilovic don’t hurt either). This trio is incredibly talented, as evidenced by their accomplishments this past spring, but they are also the standard bearers.
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“When you’re good players who fit in well and enjoy playing together,” Otzelberger said, “it sets the tone for everything you do.
“It helps create a mindset among the group about what we can do together every day.”
Good players. Low egos. Huge work ethic.
That was the formula that put Iowa State in this position, while there are still undergraduates on campus whose introduction to the program was the 2-22 debacle of 2020-21.
“There’s always the right combination of patience and urgency,” Otzelberger said. “This will be more important than any (previous season), because we have the same humility in the way we work, and also urgency and patience as well for where we can get.”
Which puts Iowa State basketball in an interesting place.
To get to where they’ve never been, the Cyclones simply need to continue to be themselves.
Which is, in fact, all they’ve ever done under Otzelberger.
Iowa State columnist Travis Hines has covered the Cyclones for the Des Moines Register and Ames Tribune since 2012. Contact him at thines@amestrib.com or (515) 284-8000. Ffollow him on X at @TravisHines21.
This article originally appeared in the Des Moines Register: Iowa State Basketball Remains Steady Amid More Hype for 2024-25 Season
