Georges Niang, Iowa State’s No. 2 all-time leading scorer, returned to Ames over the weekend to watch his former school take on TCU.

Niang graduated in 2016 after guiding Iowa State to two Sweet 16 appearances, two Big 12 Tournament championships and a first team All-Big 12 senior season.

“This actually brought back some memories,” Niang said. “It feels good to be back here, and I mean, it’s gonna be weird and interesting at the same time to be here as a spectator instead of part of the show.”

Niang said he has kept in contact with his former college coach, Steve Prohm, throughout the season.

“Man, they beat Kansas at Kansas,” Niang said. “I’m still jealous about that. I don’t care what you say about this team, you have to respect them.”

Niang, who was drafted 50th overall by the Indiana Pacers in the 2016 NBA Draft, said he’s ”thankful to be part of a first-class organization.”

The Pacers have tweeted out videos of Niang doing “rookie hazing” tasks such as buying donuts for teammates.

“That’s like the biggest tease because they don’t let me eat donuts, but I gotta get them for everybody else,” Niang said. “Some places we go have some really good donuts. I’ve never tasted them but I’ve seen them.”

Prohm had a lot of good things to say about Niang.

“Yeah, it’s great. I love Georges. He’s great for me,” Prohm said. “I was very fortunate to coach him, even if it was just the one year. Hopefully, we can get more guys in here like him. Not just as a basketball player, but how they impact this program and the university.”

Prohm joked that Niang pays so much attention to Iowa State that he would probably send Prohm a game report once a week about what the team is doing right and wrong.

“I text him once a week to check on him, to make sure he’s doing well,” Prohm said. “He does a good job reaching out to say good luck or great win. We beat Kansas, and he was ecstatic. And he was just as happy when we won the other night. He’s great for me, and he’s great for this university.”