As the two-hour celebration of championship basketball began to wind down and the crowd started filing out of Hilton Coliseum to allow the women’s team to take the floor for practice, an elderly lady approached Marcus Fizer while he was taking reporters’ questions.

“I just want you to know we’re very proud of you, no matter what you do next year,” she said as she asked the ISU forward for an autograph.

Wearing a freshly cut net around his shoulders in much the same way he took his team on his shoulders down the final stretch of the regular season, Fizer politely thanked the woman for her kind words.

The woman might not have noticed, but she was in the minority on this particular Sunday afternoon, as the chant of “One more year” was easily the most popular during the pep rally celebrating the Cyclones’ conference championships in both women’s and men’s basketball.

About 5,000 fans came out Sunday to help personally welcome their heroes home after a momentous trip to Texas in which both teams secured Big 12 regular season championships, the first ever for the women and the first since 1945 for the men.

“How sweet it is,” said ISU President Martin Jischke. “What a night Wednesday was in the history of Cyclone athletics,” referring to the men’s 87-79 victory over Texas Tech and the women’s 79-66 win over Texas.

“We are running out of superlatives to use in describing these teams,” Jischke said. “The hell with [University of] Connecticut and Duke [University]; we’ve got the best one-two punch in basketball in the nation.”

The event kicked off at 1 p.m. with a 45-minute program for the women’s team that featured flattery, fireworks and even head coach Bill Fennelly leading the pep band.

ISU Athletic Director Gene Smith started it off by introducing Ames Mayor Ted Tedesco.

“You’ve taken it to the next level,” Tedesco told the women’s team before giving each of them an official city of Ames mug.

Next on stage to praise the No. 11 Cyclones was Jischke, sporting a Texas-sized grin that stretched from ear to ear. The president presented the black-based glass Big 12 trophy to senior forward Monica Huelman.

Fennelly then stepped up to the microphone and declared Ames, “The true center of the college basketball world.”

“We got everybody’s best game for 16 games,” he said. “We’re looking forward to the rest of the season.”

The women’s team then cut down Hilton’s west net, with senior guard Stacy Frese getting the first cut and Fennelly taking the last.

After a 30-minute intermission to wait for the men’s team to arrive back from Waco, Texas, where they beat Baylor 75-54 Saturday to secure sole possession of the Big 12 title, the sea of cardinal and gold began to stir again as the Hilton video board showed the team bus pulling up to the arena.

The team soon made its way to the Hilton floor, led, of course, by Fizer.

A similar ceremony was held for the men’s team, with the same pyrotechnics and the same exaltations.

Head coach Larry Eustachy was noticeably absent until he walked out on the floor in the middle of a Jischke sentence, causing an uproar of cheers than drowned out the president’s words.

Jischke then presented the championship trophy to team co-captain Stevie Johnson, who hoisted the award over his head.

Eustachy stepped up to the podium to address the crowd and to thank them for their support.

“If you’ve ever read where I said this is ‘my’ team, I’ve been misquoted,” he said. “This is our team.”

Finishing his short speech, Eustachy promised good things at the Big 12 tournament this week.

“We’re going to go to kick some butt in Kansas City,” he said.

Eustachy’s sentiments matched those of Jischke, who had earlier promised, “It’s far from over. Kansas City, here we come.”

The men’s team then cut down the east net of Hilton, starting with senior guard Michael Nurse and ending with Fizer, who once again was urged by the crowd to shirk the NBA draft and return next year to Iowa State.

The celebration ended with both the men’s and the women’s teams mugging for an army of photographers with both trophies in hand.

Fizer avoided the NBA issue after the celebration, instead reveling in the moment.

“Hopefully, I’ll get a chance to get to the pros, but I’ll always have a Big 12 championship. That’s something nobody can take away from me,” he said.

Cyclone fans, who waited 55 years for a championship, agreed with Fizer. In the words of Jischke, “It’s a great day to be a Cyclone.”