Following the Iowa State women’s basketball game against Baylor, the graduating seniors of the team were honored.

Two of them, Jayme Olson and Janel Grimm, were the major building blocks for the resurrection of a program that went 8-19 their freshman year and is now poised to be a top five seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Both of them went through the standard “thank you’s,” but at the end, Jayme Olson had one more to give.

“And thanks to Wild Bill,” she said, as the crowd roared its approval.

When the entire team autographed basketballs and gave them to the crowd, Jayme handed hers to Wild Bill Yungclas, possibly the biggest Cyclone fan ever. Who else would attend nearly every game for 12 straight seasons — many of which were painful blowouts — as the team staggered from losing season to losing season? Who else would be there every day, wearing his Cyclone tie and waving his towel?

But who is Bill Yungclas? He is an associate director at the admissions office. But according to Cyclone Coach Bill Fennelly, he is “the starting point of women’s basketball [at ISU].”

And he is the only person I can think of who could wear cardinal pants, a striped cardinal and gold tie, and a bright cardinal hat and still look distinguished. In fact, the outfit is 25-years-old now, and he’s trying to find another one like it.

“I got the outfit at the first men’s Hilton game, but I can’t replace it. It’s wearing out, and I guess I have to keep looking,” Yungclas said.

He has been at all ISU women’s home games (unless they interfere with church functions) since 1985-86, either with his daughter (who was in fifth grade then) and his wife. Yungclas attended the Big Eight Tournaments when they were held in Salina, Kan., and goes to the Big 12 Tournament nowadays.

And finally, during the last three seasons, Yungclas has seen winning teams, including this year’s Big 12 North Division champions. He no longer has to hear his own voice echoing through the silence of an empty Hilton Coliseum.

This Saturday, Yungclas is doing something new — visiting an enemy camp for the first time for the ISU/Nebraska contest. He has told his friends that “they might need to put up bail money for me to get me out of town.”

Through it all, the players love him.

“He’s one of the guys you love to have around,” Janel Grimm said. “He gets in the ears of the opponent, kind of irritates them, gives us motivation. You can’t really hear him anymore, but sometimes you’ll hear him starting up the cheers. He’s loved ISU from the time we were in the pits to now when we’re getting respect.”

The other half of the Cyclones’ dynamic inside duo, Olson, dedicated the entire end of her senior night speech to him. Of that moment, he said, “That was very emotional. I met with Jayme and Janel on their recruiting visit to ISU because I work in the admissions office, so I’ve known them for five years. I am very pleased that they got the crowd and recognition they deserve.”

The coaching staff loves him as well.

“He was there when it wasn’t popular to be there. He used to be the only one that you could hear, and now, fortunately we have a lot of other fans,” Fennelly said. “I think what Jayme said after the game spoke volumes about what we think he’s meant to us.”

And don’t forget that the fans love him too.

After the Baylor game, when my family was walking to the parking lot, we saw Wild Bill being cheered on as he walked to his car by a group of guys in the lot.

In short, the name Bill Yungclas has become synonymous with Cyclone women’s basketball. He is their most vocal, most animated, and above all, most loyal supporter. He’s the kind of fan that coaches and players dream of.

Not only is Yungclas a great fan, he’s a great guy as well. My family and I stopped and talked to him after the game, and he was just as nice and kind outside Hilton as he is raucous inside it. He chatted amiably and at length with my little sister, who even gets on my nerves due to her incessant b-ball talk. He’s better than any Cameron Crazy, Tar Heel, or Hoosier. He is the ultimate Hilton Magician.

Bill Yungclas, we salute you!

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Jayadev Athreya is a junior in mathematics and computer science from Ames.