The No. 16 Cyclones make the trip west for the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas, taking on No. 14 St. John’s on Monday and Creighton on Tuesday. Depending on the outcome of those two games, the Cyclones could play for a championship on Wednesday.
This is a different tournament compared to the one the Cyclones played a year ago. During the week of Thanksgiving, commonly known as Feast Week for ESPN, there are a variety of early-season tournaments going on. In 2024, Iowa State played in the Maui Invitational and brought home fifth place.
The Players Era tournament features 18 teams, nine of which are ranked in the AP top 25. Each team participating will receive one million dollars towards NIL, with more on the table for the winning team. There are three other Big 12 teams in the tournament, including No. 2 Houston.
“It’s a tremendous honor to be in the Players Era tournament,” Head Coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “You know, certainly they can be very selective on who they allow in and so to be included among the other programs that are very highly regarded.”
Additionally, the travel cost to Las Vegas compared to Maui, Hawaii, is much smaller, and allows the tournament to be an opportunity to actually make money for the school. Some schools have said that they actually lose money when they play in the Maui Invitational.
“Certainly there’s a financial component that’s beneficial, you know, for our program, for our athletics department,” Otzelberger said. “And then just the ability to play the best teams on national television and test yourself early in the season.”
Iowa State has jumped out to a 4-0 start with some dominant wins. With an average point differential a little higher than 33, the Cyclones have not played any teams close. A game against the Red Storm is set to be a much better matchup than the first four games for the Cyclones.
Following the trip to Las Vegas, the Cyclones have six more non-conference games, including four against non-power conference teams. A tournament like this gives Iowa State a chance to evaluate itself early before getting to the bulk of Big 12 play.
“Very, very excited. We want to see what we’re made of, and we all look to compete against the highest competition,” senior forward Joshua Jefferson said. “I think we’re going to perform. I think we’re gonna perform well, just stick to our standards.”
The tournament is a bit of a homecoming for Jefferson, who is from Las Vegas. Jefferson went to Liberty High School in Las Vegas, which could have played a role in him going to Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, California, to begin his college career.
Being close to home, Jefferson might have some extra fans in the crowd than he usually does in Ames. When it comes to getting friends and family tickets to his games, Jefferson likes to delegate that responsibility to someone else.
“I usually just hand it over to my mom, tell her like anybody else that comes to go through you and then we’ll figure it out from there,” Jefferson said. “It just helps me focus on the game.”
Another area the Cyclones will need help from against these skilled teams is help from everyone, including the bench. Currently, the bench scores 26.1 points per game for the Cyclones, with the leading bench scorer being senior guard Dominick Nelson, who averages eight points per game.
“I feel like it’s good, I mean, I feel like I’m like, coach always says instant impact, I feel like I have to do that, especially coming off the bench,” Nelson said. “There could be times where our team needs that, and me being able to provide that could be a huge thing for this team.”
The Cyclones have their hands full with the opening matchup against St. John’s, a team coached by Rick Pitino, who has reached seven Final Fours as a head coach.
“They’re a very gifted team in terms of ability to make plays,” Otzelberger said. “[Zuby] Ejiofor at the five is a tremendous matchup challenge, a guy that can play away from the goal, can make plays and is a tremendous offensive rebounder.”
St. John’s is averaging 98.5 points per game up to this point, while the Cyclones have averaged 95.5. Despite these high-scoring affairs, neither team has probably seen a defense as good as the other.
The Creighton game will provide another interesting matchup since the two met for an exhibition game before the season, where Creighton took down the Cyclones 71-58. In that game, Iowa State shot 0-14 from three.
Some unfortunate news out of the Blue Jays’ corner is that sophomore forward Jackson McAndrew was ruled out for the season with a foot injury. McAndrew has started 35 of 40 games in his young Creighton career and was named to the Big East freshman team a year ago.
The Cyclones tip off against St. John’s at 3:30 p.m. Monday and the game against Creighton is at 1 p.m. Tuesday. Both games will be on TruTV. The Cyclones’ third game will be determined after the first two are played.
