Dick and LaRisa Garrett have waited for this moment all season. Now they’ll just have to sit through a five-hour car ride.

The Garretts’ son, freshman Diante Garrett, is slated to make his third collegiate start Tuesday when the Cyclones host Texas A&M. Both parents will make the trip from their home in Milwaukee for the game.

“They’ve just been like, ‘come in and be ready to play’,” Diante said. “I’ve been talking to Wes [Wesley Johnson] and he’s been telling me to be ready and take this opportunity and run with it.”

The opportunity came at the expense of Johnson, when the 6-foot-7-inch sophomore guard reinjured his ankle Jan. 29 against Colorado. On Saturday, Garrett started in place of the injured guard when the Cyclones traveled to Nebraska, logging a season-high 34 minutes. On Monday he was listed as the Cyclones’ starting guard for Tuesday’s game.

“For the most part he made some great decisions,” said coach Greg McDermott. “I thought a few of his turnovers were mistakes by the post players’ not having a strong postup or not flashing hard and coming to their pass in the high post.”

It was his decision-making with the ball that impressed some of his teammates as well. Garrett finished the game shooting 2-of-8 from the field with six points in the loss, and providing a different look at the point guard spot than junior Bryan Petersen.

“Diante’s doing a great job penetrating, finding the open man and taking shots that we need him to take,” said senior forward Rahshon Clark. “He’s the type of player that can get your offense going if we’re not in the gist of things.”

For the past four games, the Cyclones’ offense hasn’t been. Dropping three of its last four games, Iowa State has scored under 60 points in each of the games. Clark thinks Garrett could be the spark they’re looking for.

“He could come in and score, as well as dish the ball to people that can score,” Clark said. “He’s one of the people that can come in and put up numbers.”

And he’ll have to. With the Cyclones’ leading scorer in Johnson possibly on the bench, more pressure has been put on Garrett, something he’s been waiting for as well.

“I’ve been wanting to play a lot more minutes and, talking to Coach Mac and everybody, they’ve been telling me to ‘be prepared to play a lot more minutes than what you’ve been playing and just get ready for it’,” Garrett said.

Now his parents will have to brace through another five hour car ride. Garrett said his parents, who routinely make the drive for ISU home games, stay the night in Ames. He hopes to make that stay more enjoyable.

“They’ve been waiting for me to have this opportunity to take over and help my team out so we can come out with a [win],” he said.

More history

In the last month Clark joined one club, and now he’s creating one of his own.

The senior forward is one three-pointer away from basketball glory.

Clark is one shot from becoming the only player in Big 12 history to record 1,000 points, 100 steals, 100 blocks and 100 three-pointers.

On Jan. 19, Clark became the 26th player in ISU history to reach the 1,000-points plateau.

“It feels great to have people that were here way before me setting tremendous numbers and things like that,” Clark said.

“It feels great that I can be one of them.”

And more history

For the second time, McDermott will look to add some history of his own. With one more win, the Cyclones’ second year coach will record his 250th victory as a head coach. McDermott has a 249-152 mark in 14 seasons as a head coach, which includes stops at Wayne State, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa and, now, Iowa State.

“I haven’t even thought about it,” McDermott said. “It seems strange to me that I’ve coached long enough to do that already, because I don’t feel that old yet. It hasn’t really entered my mind.”

Been there done that

If anyone can relate to what Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon is doing, it’s McDermott. Turgeon, who is in his first year as coach with the Aggies, left Wichita State after seven years. McDermott, who coached at Northern Iowa for five seasons, was in the Missouri Valley Conference with Turgeon for five years.

“The difference is the front line players you played against in the Valley were generally 6’8″ or 6’9″,” McDermott said.

The Aggies’ starting lineup features 6-foot-9-inch forwards Bryan Davis and Joseph Jones, something McDermott says is the largest difference between the Missouri Valley and Big 12 conferences.

“I think that the size is different across the board,” he said. “There’s probably a certain level of athletic ability that’s a little bit better than it was in the Valley.”