MILWAUKEE − It wasn’t the ending Iowa State expected, nor was it what the Cyclones wanted.
The Iowa State basketball team was once near the top of the college basketball landscape, peaking at No. 2 in the country in both the AP and Coaches’ polls midway through January.
“We were one of those teams that was in the top 10 for a majority of the year and I think that’s something you can’t shoot down and look down back on,” Iowa State guard Tamin Lipsey said. “I’m just proud that we were able to maintain that throughout the season. Obviously, it’s a long year. At this time, there’s a lot of banged-up bodies. Health is not where you would want it to be, but looking back at it, I’m proud.”
The third-seeded Cyclones finished the season 25-10 overall, after getting knocked out in the second round of the NCAA Tournament following a 91-78 loss to 6-seed Ole Miss.
Travis Hines column: A season of promise ends with disappointment for Iowa State basketball
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In the two months since soaring high, the Cyclones had to deal with various injuries. Now they’re sorting through the what-ifs and what-could-have-beens, while nursing the heartbreak that comes with having their season end short of another Sweet 16 and lofty expectations.
“There’s part of that, but also it is what it is,” said sophomore Cade Kelderman, alluding to the what-could-have-beens. “Can’t control necessarily who’s all available. You obviously hope everyone’s available, but injuries happen. Stuff happens, so I definitely just look at it how it was.”
In a sport and a world where teams are often judged by where they finish, how do the Cyclones view the 2024-25 campaign?
“Man, you’re not defined by one game, we lost to Kansas State, that didn’t mean Kansas State was better than us,” Iowa State center Dishon Jackson said. “We lost to BYU. We took a lot of losses, but we also won a lot more games than we lost. One game doesn’t define the whole season. You can turn it around at any point. We were ranked highly all season, a lot of pressure was on us and we delivered − I believe.”
Iowa State opened the season with a 17-2 record and went 8-8 the rest of the way. Despite that, the Cyclones were able to get a 3-seed in March Madness.
“Coach was saying this is one of six (Iowa State) teams that has been given a 3-seed or higher in the tournament, so that just shows our whole body of work leading up to the tournament,” Kelderman said. “We did have a lot of success. Obviously, it’s unfortunate that we didn’t carry that over and make a run ourselves, but I’m just grateful for everyone on this team.”
The Cyclones had a 20-2 record when their primary eight-man rotation was available and healthy enough to play. When dealing with at least one absence, they were 5-8. Lipsey, Milan Momcilovic, Keshon Gilbert and Curtis Jones all missed at least one game at one point or another.
“Overall, the team, I think we started out really well and we knew that if we were playing, clicking on the right cylinders, we’re one of the best teams in the country,” Momcilovic said. “But it didn’t happen towards the end of the year, so I think it was just kind of tough to not really click like that because we all knew we had it in us. It just never kind of clicked at the end there.”
Iowa State finished the season without any hardware.
The team competed well at the Maui Invitational, bouncing back from a quarterfinal loss on a last-second tip-in to eventual tournament winner Auburn, but it had to settle for fifth place after winning its remaining games.
The Cyclones didn’t win a Big 12 regular-season or tournament title. They fell short of a Sweet 16 appearance and beyond, after reaching the second weekend in two of the previous three years.
“There’s always some sort of luck that goes into basketball, whoever is usually the healthiest team wins at the end of the year, but we don’t really look at ‘what if’ − it’s these are the guys we have and this is what we need to do,” Momcilovic said. “We just look at it like we lost an opportunity here and hopefully we can get it back next year.”
After shedding some tears and sifting through the disappointment of knowing the season is abruptly over, they hold their heads up high.
“It was a good season,” Jackson said. “We played in a tough conference, we finished fifth. We took some tough losses at home that we probably shouldn’t have. We took some tough losses on the road, but we also won a lot of games. I think that’s something that I’m proud of, proud of this team for coming together. It’s been a good season.”
Iowa State is guaranteed to bid farewell to Jones, Gilbert, Brandton Chatfield and Conrad Hawley, as they have exhausted all eligibility. Additionally, the transfer portal was set to open Monday.
The Cyclones plan on using their shortcomings as fuel for next season. There were some milestones achieved this season, but there are still more ceilings to break through. Since the NCAA Tournament expanded and became the more modern format, Iowa State has only one Elite Eight appearance (2000) and hasn’t reached a Final Four.
“Just keep working,” Kelderman said of his biggest takeaway from this season. “Coach said this time as a college athlete, it goes by fast. This is going to be the most fun years of your life, playing with teammates, playing at the highest level. It’s just appreciating that and knowing that you got to take it day by day and just enjoy the process because it goes by fast.”
Eugene Rapay covers Iowa State athletics for the Des Moines Register. Contact Eugene at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @erapay5.
