AMES — After capturing a Big 12 Championship and a Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA Tournament last season, the 2024-25 Iowa State Cyclones look to assert dominance over the new-look Big 12 with nine players returning from the previous season.
Three of those nine players were starters a year ago with guards Tamin Lipsey, Keshon Gilbert and forward Milan Momcilovic returning for another stint with Iowa State this season.
Momcilovic was the only returning starter to be a freshman last year and is looking forward to improving upon his stellar freshman campaign.
“Feeling good,” Momcilovic said. “First season was good to get the experience and ended up playing a lot of minutes as a freshman, but I feel I can take it up another level this year.”
In his first collegiate season, Momcilovic started all 37 games and played the third most amount of minutes on the team, while averaging just under 11 points per game on a 42.4% field goal percentage.
His impressive freshman year earned him a spot on the Big 12 All-Freshman Team. He will look to continue the momentum he built from his first full college season.
Like Momcilovic, Gilbert also started all 37 games last season and led the Cyclones in scoring with an average of 13.7 points per game on a 43.8% shooting percentage. His performances landed him a spot on the All-Big 12 Second Team and the Big 12 All-Newcomer Team.
However, Gilbert will be looking to provide his best season yet for Iowa State, as he enters the 2024-25 season potentially being his last, since he is currently a senior after spending his first two seasons with UNLV.
Then comes, arguably, the best overall player on the Cyclones in the Ames native, Lipsey.
Entering his third season, Lipsey has established himself as one of the best guards in the country by consistently providing on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball.
In his two seasons of collegiate basketball, Lipsey has earned the honors of being on the Big 12 All-Freshman Team, Big 12 All-Defensive Team, All-Big 12 First Team and was a finalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year in 2024.
With only missing one game last year due to an injury, Lipsey started all of the 36 games he played in and averaged 12.4 points per game on a 42.8% field goal percentage, 39.1% coming from beyond the arc which was a team-high.
Along with the scoring, Lipsey also held a team-high in assists (176) and steals (76).
While the returning starters plan to keep up their high playability, Iowa State also retains some of its key bench pieces in guards Curtis Jones and Demarion Watson.
Jones was by far the best bench piece the Cyclones had last season. He was third on the team in scoring at 11 points per game, despite starting one time all of last season.
While he might not have shot the best, Jones did lead Iowa State in made 3-pointers with 73. The next closest to that number was Momcilovic with 61.
Just like Gilbert, Jones will be looking to make a statement on his long collegiate career, as he enters his fifth year of playing college basketball.
“I feel really confident going into this season,” Jones said. “Just trying to build off the momentum of last year and continue it into this year.”
Watson may not have had the biggest impact in the scoring department, but he proved to be a key player on the defensive side of the ball with 13 blocks and 10 steals in the season.
The remaining players that come back for another season with Iowa State are senior forward Conrad Hawley, sophomore Cade Kelderman, and redshirt freshmen in forward Kayden Fish and center JT Rock.
Head coach T.J. Otzelberger enters his fourth season with Iowa State and hopes to grow past last year’s success in order to succeed, as the majority of the players from that magical season are back to achieve new heights.
“We put on a bow on last year and hopefully, someday we can come back and enjoy that experience with the guys we had,” Otzelberger said. “For those who are returning, they have an idea of what the work habits, the intensity and what things need to be [this season].”
