One of the greatest players to ever don the Cardinal and Gold will walk off the court at Hilton Coliseum for the final time as a player when the final buzzer sounds on Monday night.

Georges Niang’s impact on ISU basketball over the past four years is almost indescribable. His 95 wins are more than any other player in the program’s history, and by season’s end Niang will surpass Melvin Ejim for most career games played.

He’s scored the third most points in school history, led Iowa State to three NCAA tournaments and back-to-back Big 12 championships.

Niang hopes deep runs in the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments will add to his extensive résumé, but Monday night will be Cyclone Nation’s final chance to watch Niang on his home court. 

“You’re going to make me cry, man,” Niang said last Thursday. “Playing at Hilton has meant everything to me. To think that there is only two games left, it just leaves an empty feeling in my stomach.”

After a win against Kansas State on Saturday, Niang is down to one final game at home — senior night against Oklahoma State. 

Before he leaves the court Monday night, Niang and the rest of the senior class will take a moment to address the crowd. It’s something that ISU coach Steve Prohm has done before and something he wants to carry on at Iowa State.

“I want to give them the right moment,” Prohm said, “let them say bye to the fans and let the fans say bye to them [at Hilton].”

On Saturday night, Niang wasn’t quite sure what he was going to say. How could he possibly find the words to condense the memories and emotions of the past four years?

“There’s a lot of things I want to say, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to get them out,” Niang said. “Just thinking about it is tough. It hasn’t really hit me that it’s going to be my last game here.”

It’ll be an emotional moment for Niang and for every die-hard ISU fan who has watched Niang the past four seasons. Niang easily developed into a fan favorite with his unusual style of play and high levels of success combined with a personality unlike any other in college basketball.

Niang has been a quote machine, avoiding the coach speak that college basketball has been inundated with, and speaking his mind.

He cracks jokes, trash talks and provides thoughtful insight and honest analysis all in a single interview session. Perhaps his most famous quote was his declaration of Iowa being a “Cyclone State” after beating rival Iowa.

Ahead of this season’s CyHawk game, Niang dished out some trash talking and joked about the need to win his final game against the Hawkeyes.

“If I only went 2-2 with Iowa, then what’s the point of playing?” Niang joked.

Niang, a Massachusetts native, developed into Iowa State’s biggest champion when it came to CyHawk trash talk. He infamously blew a kiss to the fans at Carver-Hawkeye last season after the Cyclones defeated the Hawkeyes.

When Iowa State’s football team beat Iowa in 2014, Niang had some fun by trolling Iowa fans on Twitter, tweeting a picture of him looking at his game-winning shot against the Hawkeyes the year before.

“@proud_iowan: @GeorgesNiang20 @DustinHogue1 how many final fours u guys been to?”that ain’t none of my business tho pic.twitter.com/ueNaBwvuz0

— Georges Niang (@GeorgesNiang20) September 13, 2014

Niang has been at the center of the CyHawk rivalry for years now, providing lasting memories for fans, and for himself.

When asked if a favorite moment came to mind, it involved the Hawkeyes, naturally.

“Beating Iowa this year was a pretty big moment,” he said. “Coming back from down almost 20 points. That was a pretty big moment this year.”

Niang’s on-court heroics have been well noted, as he has ascended to a Wooden Award candidate and is recognized as one of the best players in college basketball.

He’s averaging a career-high 19.4 points per game this season, but how he scores might provide a little more insight into why Niang is so beloved.

Like his personality, his game is quirky. He’s never been the fastest or most athletic player on the court. He doesn’t dominate with natural athletic ability like so many top players do.

He’s crafty, and he’s a matchup nightmare. He can score from inside and out, and opponents probably see his patented spin-move baby-hook in their nightmares now after seeing it so many times in person over the years.

Despite his disadvantages athletically, he’s proven to be highly successful through skill and hard work, making him even more likeable and giving up an underdog type of appeal.

“I just think I come in every day with my all and that’s all I can control — how hard I work — and I think if you do that it’s a recipe for success,” Niang said. “I put a lot of hard work into this university and this program.”

Fans will likely bid a tearful farewell to Niang at Hilton on Monday, but Niang hopes a deep run in March will keep him around a little longer.

The college basketball season can be long and grueling, so one might assume that Niang would be ready to skip over the final regular season games to get into post-season play. Niang said otherwise.

“I don’t think I’m ready at all,” Niang said. “I just want to take it one day at a time and soak all this up.”

With the end of his collegiate career in sight, Niang isn’t interested in skipping a single moment of the season.

“The tournament is great when it’s around,” Niang said, “but I don’t want to fast forward my senior year too fast because as you guys say, the real world isn’t that cool, right?”

Niang joked about wishing he could stay in college forever, and many ISU fans probably wish that was possible for Niang. After four years of success, memories and Hilton Magic, nobody is ready to say goodbye.

“Running out of the tunnel and just having those passionate fans really cheering for you through thick and thin, ups and downs, I’m for sure going to miss this place,” Niang said. “Hopefully I’ve left enough here that they’ll remember me, but this place will always have a special place in my heart.”

Mission accomplished, Georges.

How could we forget?