ISU men’s basketball fans aren’t ready to let the legacy Marcus Fizer has built up vanish from the ISU campus.

But the question still stands as to where Fizer will be next year — in the NBA or in an ISU uniform.

Fizer said he heard the fans chanting “One more year, one more year,” in the Feb. 22 victory over Texas and said he wanted to make sure it didn’t distract him.

“I know that’s what the fans want,” he said.

The possibility of going to the NBA is something Fizer has always wanted to do, he said.

“You strive to be the best and do your best in that spotlight,” he said. “If [you] have abilities to do this and that, why wouldn’t you try to get that spotlight?”

ISU coach Larry Eustachy said he accepts the departure of student-athletes.

“I can’t deprive anyone of making a living,” he said.

Fizer is not the only Cyclone to consider leaving Iowa State for professional opportunities. Football player Troy Davis left following the 1996 football season before his senior year.

Tom Kroeschell, assistant athletic director of media relations, said Troy Davis’ leaving didn’t have a negative affect on the program.

“[We] never had a student-athlete in football like Troy Davis,” he said. “Just the fact of the coverage he got really nationalized our program.”

Kroeschell also said Davis left Iowa State with good academic standing and could return at any time to finish his degree.

Sharon Paterson-McGuire, director of the Academic Success Center, is a big believer in personal choice. She said when talking about student-athletes, certain factors must be taken into consideration.

“Students first, athletes second,” she said. “This would hopefully make college more directed toward academics with maintaining athletic opportunities at the same time.”

Eustachy said leaving in the middle of their college career may not be the best choice for student-athletes.

“The best thing for players to do is stay all four years,” he said. “It’s been proven.”

Kevin Kettner, Fizer’s academic adviser in sociology, said it is important to have information available from all people involved including advisors, instructors and the coaching staff.

“We’ve talked about what he [Fizer] has taken and [is] going to be taking,” he said. “We’re working towards him graduating. We always have been.”

Kettner said some people have questioned him about Fizer’s academic future.

“I’m sure he hasn’t made up his mind,” he said. “He’s doing the things he needs to do as a student.”

Kettner said he has experience with student-athletes who have left later returned to finish their degree.

“It’s a great opportunity to pursue something they’ve dreamed of all of their lives since they were little boys,” he said. “If it’s there and they can take advantage of it, great.”

Fizer will not make a decision about leaving Iowa State until after the season.

“The NBA is not on my mind,” he said. “If it was, I wouldn’t be playing this well.”

His decision is on the minds of many in the ISU community.

Before the game against Oklahoma State on Saturday, athletic director Gene Smith announced that the school would have a scholarship awarded each year in Johnny Orr’s honor.

Smith got laughs when he commented that “hopefully next year we’ll give the scholarship to Marcus Fizer.”

Fizer maintains the decision won’t be made until he can discuss his options with his parents and coaching staff.

“First of all, think about all the wonderful things that happened this season, and look at the new guys coming in,” he said.

Each individual student-athlete has to look at the many factors involved before making a decision to leave college before graduation, Kroeschell said.

“It is a very personal decision,” he said. “You can’t brush something [off] and say it’s the right decision for everyone.”

Kroeschell said student-athletes have to consider many aspects like family, their academic future, and their professional future and then put those variables together.

Eustachy said he doesn’t know if Saturday was Fizer’s last home game.

“I’d say no, but that’s how I feel,” he said. “I’m not sure.”