The Iowa State men’s basketball team entered the year wondering who will be contributors this season. And during the Cyclones run in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina they got an unlikely one in sophomore guard Jakolby Long.

After scoring only eight points in the first three games of the season, the Mustang, Oklahoma native went off for 17 points in Iowa State’s second round match-up in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. Long went 6-of-10 from field, including 4-of-6 from behind the 3-point line.

Not only that, but the guard scored those 17 points in 18 minutes. But right when Long looked like he was about to blossom as an effective contributor for the Cyclones, an injury occurred.

Great performance last night from Jakolby Long (@jsnipe43)! helped lead the Cyclones to the championship game. #getbuckets pic.twitter.com/dXYWjYeVqY

— Cyclone Basketball (@CycloneMBB) November 18, 2017

Long took an incidental elbow from Solomon Young to the head in practice during Thanksgiving break, which resulted in Long suffering a concussion. With the injury, the sophomore was forced to miss five of the past six games.

“It’s been kind of frustrating because I want to be back on the court,” Long said.

However, Long did return briefly for three minutes against the Iowa Hawkeyes on Dec. 7, but his symptoms resurfaced and sidelined him again.

Jakolby Long sounded pretty optimistic that he will (might) be available for Friday’s game against K-State. He said he is feeling better but he still questionable according to Prohm

— Garrett Kroeger (@GKroegs) December 27, 2017

“The first week it was headaches and just dizziness, and then I had finals, too, so another headache,” Long said. “That really didn’t help, but now I’m feeling good because I have no homework or nothing like that. [I’m] just focused on basketball.”

Now, Long isn’t the only Cyclone injured at the moment as forwards Hans Brase (ankle) and Zoran Talley Jr. (stress fracture) are both hurt. That means Iowa State, at this time, only has seven available players for its Big 12 opener against the Kansas State Wildcats on Dec. 29 at 8 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum.

It’s no secret that the Big 12 conference is one of the strongest leagues in all of college basketball. Nine out of the 10 teams in the conference are currently in KenPom’s top-50 College Basketball Ratings. The only one that isn’t is Iowa State.

“This league could get eight in this year when you really, seriously look at it,” said coach Steve Prohm.

That means the current trend of only seven available players won’t help the Cyclones’ chances of contending for a league title or making seven straight NCAA Tournaments.

Heading into the match-up against Kansas State, Long is questionable according to Prohm. However, he did practice on Tuesday, but it was more of a walk through session. But, Long did practice on Wednesday and was slated to do so on Thursday, both of which are live-action training.

“I trust the process and will keep working hard,” Long said. “Friday’s game depends on how I keep on practicing throughout the whole week before the game.”

If Long does indeed return to the court on Friday, there is no telling what to expect from him. Iowa State could get a Tulsa game-like performance from Long or an Appalachian State type outing, in which he scored one point in six minutes of playing time. However, one thing for sure is that he could come in and give either Nick Weiler-Babb, Lindell Wigginton, or Donovan Jackson some rest.

Through non-conference play, the Cyclones heavily relied on Weiler-Babb, Wigginton and Jackson. All three are averaging 30-plus minutes per game and all three are Iowa State’s top-three scorers. Jackson is averaging 16.2 points per game, followed by Wigginton at 15.5 and Weiler-Babb at 12.5. So, it’s clear that they may need to relieve some of their workload to make it through the entire Big 12 schedule.

Although Long’s status and role are still up in the air, he just wants to help Iowa State in anyway he can. From playing the reliever or maybe being that unexpected scorer.

“I’m ready to play,” Long said.