How Kelsey Joens plans to cement her own legacy at Iowa State
AMES — Following her commitment to Iowa State, Kelsey Joens knew the importance of her family name, as her family has been well known over the years, especially as Cyclones.
Kelsey Joens followed in the footsteps of her older sisters, Ashley Joens and Aubrey Joens, who both preceded her as Cyclones. Ashley Joens played five seasons on the team from 2018 to 2023, while Aubrey Joens was on the roster from 2020 to 2022 before transferring to Oklahoma. While Kelsey Joens knows the comparisons to her sisters are inevitable, the 5-foot-10-inch guard from Iowa City, Iowa, is eager to make her own mark on the program.
Ashley Joens set multiple records in her five seasons at Iowa State, finishing her career as the Cyclones’ all-time leading scorer (3,060) and rebounder (1,391). She also became the 14th Division I women’s basketball player to reach a career milestone of 3,000 points.
Ashley Joens also earned the honor of Big 12 Player of the Year following the end of the 2022-23 season and ended up being the Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship Most Outstanding Player following Iowa State’s conference-clinching win in the championship game against Texas.
Ashley Joens’ career at Iowa State will undoubtedly be one of the better performances ever by a player to wear cardinal and gold for as long as the program exists.
While Aubrey Joens did not make as big of an impact in her two seasons as a Cyclone, she still played a big part in Iowa State’s resurgence in the 2021-22 season before leaving for a bigger role on Oklahoma’s team.
Kelsey Joens believes that without her sisters’ accomplishments at Iowa State, she might not have even considered Iowa State as a potential place to continue her playing career.
“They help write my story a little bit,” Kelsey Joens said. “They help put Iowa State on the map for me.”
Coming out of West Liberty High School, Kelsey Joens had accomplished something that was not only unique for her family of basketball stars—it had never been done by any athlete from her school.
That accomplishment was being named the Gatorade Iowa Girls Basketball Player of the Year for the 2022-23 season, in which she averaged 24.6 points per game, 11.9 rebounds per game, 3.5 assists per game and four steals per game.
Shared experiences at Iowa State—both on the team and as students—gave the sisters another thing to bond over.
“It’s a dream come true,” Kelsey Joens said. “My sisters have done it and have been through it, and I wanted to do the same thing. It’s pretty cool to share this experience with them and talk about what classes we had and what buildings they were in. It also helps to know the same people.”
Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly had the opportunity to coach both Ashley and Aubrey Joens during their time at Iowa State, and now he looks ahead to coaching up Kelsey Joens to make her potentially the next great Joens.
Fennelly knows Kelsey Joens does not want to settle for the standards set by her sisters. Fennelly believes Kelsey Joens wants to rise above her sisters and become the best Joens to come out of Iowa State.
“She’s a very driven kid,” Fennelly said. “She probably would say she wants to be the best Joens and not just known as another Joens.”
When comparing Ashley and Kelsey Joens, Fennelly sees completely different players who play with different styles, as well as seeing the different personalities that they each have.
Fennelly has already seen Kelsey Joens’ commitment to the team with the amount of time spent trying to reach the level she is trying to reach, which only gives her a leg up on the competition.
“She’s one of those kids that spends a lot of time in the gym because she wants to get better and doesn’t want to talk about getting better,” Fennelly said.
With some players having the talk but not walking the walk, Fennelly sees that Kelsey Joens is not one to boast about her talents and believes that she can take on any challenge that comes her way.
“Most of them want to say they can get better and want to do the other part, but Kelsey is one of those kids who is willing to put in the work to get better and accepts the challenges in front of her,” Fennelly said.
Forward Nyamer Diew is entering her third year as a Cyclone. In three years, Diew has had the opportunity to play with all three of the Joens sisters and sees how Kelsey Joens upholds her family name just from her work ethic.
“You can tell she’s a Joens by the way she works,” Diew said.
Diew was an integral part of Iowa State’s path to win the Big 12 title a year ago, as she now looks ahead to being a veteran leader on a team that looks much different than previous years.
Iowa State’s roster was nearly wiped clean following the end of the 2022-23 season, as players either decided to enter the transfer portal or wanted to continue their journey in the WNBA.
Diew was one of the few who decided to stick around and help lead the young team and build it into something greater.
With Kelsey Joens being one of the potential pieces for the future of Iowa State, it comes with having a great relationship with the team and her abilities on the court.
Diew mentioned how, in their short time together as teammates, Kelsey Joens has brought nothing but good energy and fun times since joining the team.
“She’s always happy, she brings high energy and is overall a great teammate,” Diew said.
Diew can see the potential for Kelsey Joens to be something more than just being another Joens sister, as she believes that Kelsey Joens could make a name for herself.
“Kelsey knows that she can cement her own legacy here and knows that it’ll take a lot of work and hours to put in and grind out, but I know she’s capable of doing it,” Diew said.
Even with Ashley Joens’ many records for Iowa State, Kelsey Joens is confident that she can one day surpass her records and become the best Joens sister to come out of the program.
“Ashley set a lot of records, and I’m gonna go out there and try and break them,” Kelsey Joens said. “She did really well here and made a name for herself, but I’m not the same person as her. I’m a completely different player who’s trying to make a name for myself and not be in her shadow.”
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