The Beat Reporters: Iowa State's gymnastics decision, Tamin moments, and Big 12 Tournament time

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What is up? This is the Beat Reporters and I am not Jake Brenn,

but I am joined by Rob Gray and Ben Hutchins.

I'm Aiden Wyatt filling in for Jake today.

Fellas, it's that time of year.

It's almost conference turny season.

We got the last weekend of the regular season on the men's side.

Lots to talk about with wrestling and of course gymnastics.

How are we doing today?

Good to see you Aiden.

Thanks for having me.

You failed to mention it's also spring training.

I guess Jake dropped it on the spring training out there in Arizona.

What the heck, Jake?

Yeah, he was out there with our guy, Jeff Kelderman.

Shout out to him for always sponsoring the Beat Reporters.

They were in the stands for Cubs game the other day with the text Road Dogs.

So I'm sure they have a great time down in Arizona.

Jake is finally back today and we will be live this evening for pre-game and post-game

for the Ives State Women's Basketball Game.

Shall we dig into gymnastics?

I think we should.

I think we should.

Guys, you've kind of been our number one guy here in terms of everything.

Another piece came out today kind of a blanket of everything that's happened.

How did this start?

You know, where was this program at?

Fill us in on what you found out.

Yeah, I wrote two pieces today.

You can check them out on the Quad City Times.

They came out this morning.

One in overview of how successful was Iowa State's gymnastics program.

Since 1973, the first season had officially started as a varsity sport.

And how bad did this year get?

And the truth is that 2026 got very bad before the season was canceled.

But if it feels like this entire thing has gone by so fast,

it's because it has in a span of 30 days, Iowa State gymnastics went from competing

to announcing the discontinument of the program.

So it happened almost within one month, 30 days, that this entire thing,

the first kind of public science that everybody picked up on.

So a lot of this has gone by.

I wrote down some thoughts on the video that Jamie Pollard released this week

talking about the decision.

Did you guys have any thoughts on that before?

I kind of get into what's the first program getting discontinued since 2001

when baseball and Vince tennis got discontinued.

Go ahead.

I don't really have a whole lot outside of, you know,

I concur with Williams and Bloom in a sense that when it comes to so many disparate accounts,

you've got a lot of emotion on all sides from the administration to the athletes,

student athletes to coaches and all that stuff, former student athletes.

Whatever the truth is, I'd lie somewhere in the middle and that middle might be a pretty broad middle.

There might be a good band of that middle, so it could fall much more one way than the other.

But I mean, when you get different perspectives, you're obviously going to, you know,

and emotions are involved, you're going to have highly varying interpretations

of everything that's going on.

But it is, as you said, Ben, just wild to have it go that fast.

And as you said, I mean, there were a few glory days back in the day.

I can tell you, going to basketball games, being from Ames.

I already remember the guy named Ed Gagne.

He'd always come on at half time, he had this really high pitched voice,

and he'd really fire people up talking about the gymnastics team.

And there were some good times back in the day.

But yeah, it's been a while.

But you know, I've been asked to do a whole lot of reporting on this

with everything I have on my plate, so I'm not.

But Ben, I'm happy you and others are.

So I'm interested to hear your points.

Iowa State reached the Super Six, which means they're one of the final six teams

competing for the national championship in 2006.

So either you guys have any recollection of that?

I don't know.

I was five.

Yeah, okay.

I'm the same way.

Rob, you're not on the beat by then, if I remember right.

Yeah, I was covering.

I was the main high school boys basketball beat writer

and you and I football writer and about eight other things

for the Des Moines Register at the time.

I was vaguely, I vaguely remember that they were unusually good,

you know, just again being from Ames and kind of having

my finger on the pulse of things around there.

But yeah, I was not as much as now, but I was, you know,

you know, certainly well removed from that loop.

Yeah, yeah.

That was, I think, probably the pinnacle of Iowa State Gymnastics.

That's the only time they've reached the Super Six.

And I was at the tail end, the very last year of the KJ Kindler era.

And we'll get to some of that in my thoughts on this.

And I wrote them down, guys, because I want to be very intentional

about what I say on here.

And I think the first thing that came to mind is this stinks.

This stinks for everybody.

You know, Jamie Pollard in his video said,

we're sorry it's come to this.

And I think everybody feels that way.

No matter if, you know, you're on the Iowa State Gymnastics side,

the side of a parrot, the side of a player, the side of a team, the side of a coach,

the side of an administrator, the side of a fan.

This stinks for everybody right now.

And I also think that Iowa State did the right thing in terms of

honoring scholarships for the athletes who do want to stick around.

And, you know, by all reports, like they're going to assist

and help them find their next school in the transfer portal.

Some athletes I've spoken to are already in the transfer portal.

So, I know for a fact that, you know, Iowa State athletes

have been able to enter the transfer portal immediately on Tuesday morning

as soon as this news broke.

Now, the biggest pushback I've heard from the folks I've talked to

on kind of the Iowa State team side of this is the idea

that any of this blame was on the gymnasts.

That's been the number one pushback is there's a lot of people

who feel like the gymnasts should share no burden of this decision,

this result, any of this impact.

And I think the line that really got a lot of people mad

and really made people feel that way is when Pollard said something

along the lines of unresolved conflicts led to this between the players,

the coaches, the parents, that didn't believe they could finish.

So, that's been the number one area of pushback is the gymnasts feel like

they shouldn't shoulder any of this blame.

Another interesting thing that came to light in that video I believe

are the 2018 and 2023 internal reviews Iowa State conducted.

That shows that there have been problems, you know,

with this team dating back before, Ashley Miles Greek,

was hired the current coach.

And I think that raises a couple questions.

Are those problems with the gymnastics culture,

the parents, the players, as maybe Iowa State has sort of indicated,

or is that a problem with administration for not being able to foster

an environment when we understand that that's really the only sport

that they've had some of these problems with.

But also are these problems that would have been resolved

or swept under the rug or fixed for a football program or a men's basketball program?

I think that's a very valid question to ask.

The fourth kind of thought I had is some of these statements that we've seen

from former athletes, former coaches have been very strong, strong words.

I know we've posted a lot of them, a lot of them came out on social media,

but the biggest one I think you have to look at is KJ Kinler.

Guys, we talked about it in the open.

The most successful person in Iowa State's gymnastics history by far,

the most influential person from this university's gymnastics program.

Heck, maybe even nationally, the most influential gymnast,

coach around, she won seven national championships,

including 2025 with Oklahoma.

That's right after she left Iowa State.

KJ came out with a statement with what I highlighted,

saying chronically under-investment,

chronically under-invested along those lines.

That certainly raised my eyebrow.

And my last thought is the news of Tuesday might end up being the best move

for Iowa State long-term.

That's not something that maybe a lot of people want to hear right now,

but it could be.

When you look at Iowa State gymnastics,

you're losing $1.4 million a year.

And what a women's wrestling program could potentially do

in terms of the market being around that in the state.

Like, it could be.

We could look back at this in 20 years as a move that was beneficial for Iowa State.

But right now, it feels like nobody's a winner.

It feels like nobody's benefiting from this.

Pollard was obviously pretty torn up about having to announce it.

He said it's not fun.

And obviously, Iowa State's gymnasts and families and people around that program

feel like the biggest losers of this whole thing.

So I'm going to continue to report on it.

I talk to somebody on Tuesday night.

I'm talking to another person tomorrow.

Really trying to cover this story and tell the story of the downfall of a program

that was once a moderately successful team in college gymnastics.

Well said, Ben.

Yeah.

It's just weird.

I don't buy into this whole, you know, Jamie Pollard had it out for women's gymnastics.

And this has been 20 years coming that he's just wanted to tear that program down.

I don't think this was an easy decision for him at all.

And who knows what happened in those 2018 and 2023 reviews?

Was this on the table then?

Who knows?

But yeah, I think you make a good point that this was...

This might be better for Iowa State in the long term.

Yeah.

It's tough, obviously.

It's been said.

It's just...

It sucks to see the athletes suffering in this way.

And you know, to be under the microscope and have to...

I mean, one thing I did appreciate also in addition to the offer to remain on scholarship,

utilize all the athletics, you know, support facilities.

If it just remain a student, Iowa State, that the athletes did.

You know, the offer to, you know, make it clear to the initiative lay

that they'd like to get this year back for them too in terms of eligibility.

And Iowa State would do whatever they can to help make that possible.

But yeah, again, it's just a tough situation.

And that's who you've got to feel for the most, right?

The competitors who want to compete, want it to compete.

And you know, however this season was going, that's...

You know, you want to go out there and give it your all.

And for that to be taken away, first suspended,

and then, you know, the program...

The sport is just dissolved at Iowa State.

That has to be a very jarring and difficult thing to deal with, you know, psychologically.

Well, what do you guys think is next for Iowa State in terms of...

Is it wrestling? Is it hockey?

What direction do you guys think they should go?

I don't think hockey makes a lot of sense.

And again, you know, this is where we move from the reporting to kind of the...

The opinion section.

Yeah, yeah, which is also important, because that's the next logical question

that we should ask after we fully understand what happened, you know.

I think I will need to find out...

Because Iowa State is mandated to add another women's sport.

You have to have a total of 16, I believe it is.

And right now, there's six men's and nine women's after the gymnastics program has dissolved.

So...

That at my last check, that's the case.

So there is going to be another women's sport.

I'm interested to learn, okay, what's the deadline for that?

To be Title IX complicit and all these things.

I don't think hockey makes a lot of sense.

Like there's no rank in town.

If you're going to add a sport, that seems like so much overhead cost.

We hear all about how expensive it is for just you, hockey in general.

And I think that would be very costly.

I think wrestling makes a lot of sense. I put out a poll.

There were like nearly a thousand people who voted in this poll on Twitter

and women's wrestling took like a 67% lead.

So I think that's where you already have the most groundwork.

And somebody made an interesting point.

It might have been on Murphy and Andy where they talk about...

There's already young people doing that.

There's already potentially corporate people with kids involved in youth girls wrestling at the high school level.

And that's really where you start to get support for a program.

So I think that makes the most sense. And that's not a hot take because it seems like a lot of people agree.

Yeah, I mean, again, a state like Iowa with wrestling and girls wrestling emerging in such a way.

It does make sense now, you know, the hockey to do it.

I guess they have a rank because you've got the men's club team playing.

But it's not a ring that is well situated to accommodate a lot of fans.

Yeah.

And it is, as you said, Ben, a very expensive sport.

I mean, and when you throw in the financials that have been revealed about the gymnastics program,

they probably want to find something that can be operated maybe on as modest a budget as possible

and still create a competitive environment.

I don't know how much wrestling would cost.

But as you said, and so many people said it feels like a natural fit.

I know Scott Doctorman had thrown out the idea of, you know, Nebraska has flag football.

Women's flag football.

How costly would that be?

I mean, it could be a sport that people could kind of enjoy, be interested in.

I mean, so there are some outside the box ideas out there.

The obvious middle of the box one is, hey, natural fit, certain women's wrestling program.

The University of Iowa has one, not a lot of D1 programs in this country, though, for that at this point.

So, yeah, we'll be interested to see what they do going forward.

But as you said, that seems like a no-brainer, but we don't know all that goes into that.

So, stay tuned, I guess.

I should jump in here real fast and just add that Jamie Pollard said it's not a financial decision to get rid of gymnastics.

So, you know, how much of the next sport is a financial decision? He said, well, it's probably going to cost as much or more to add a new women's sport.

So, but like, listen, we all understand what college athletics is in the big 2026.

And I don't think you can be a human and not have any sort of like cost benefit analysis of the financials of adding a sport.

I mean, women's flag football, to be that's really exciting.

That would be fun, new, that'd be interesting.

You wouldn't have a lot of overhead.

Maybe you get a little bit of a boost with the flag football coming to the Olympics in 2028, I think, in LA.

So, maybe that could be something to look for.

Yeah, financials are involved. I mean, look at everything from the revenue sharing, all the lawsuits, the house settlement.

I mean, everything is a financial decision in college athletics.

I mean, whether you want to say it's directly affecting this particular situation, that's one thing.

But in the grand scope of things, when you're trying to come up with an amount of money to be competitive and in the NAL space continues to evolve.

And it's still kind of a wild, wild west, to some extent.

I think you're constantly trying to evaluate those things, even if it's not the underlying, you know, the guiding force behind what you're talking about.

Not always a good point. You brought up two bands of, sorry, get distracted.

In terms of what could bring like excitement, you know, it's women's wrestling.

Because, like you said, there aren't that many teams.

We did the math yesterday in Williams and Bloom.

There's about 150 schools right now that are doing that, only like seven of them are division one.

And so you're getting that on the ground level of what feels like a sport that is growing pretty quickly across college athletics.

But yeah, who knows where I would say goes from here. I was trying to look up to.

I was state, there's been a lot of speculation of like, oh man, they could drop down to division two if they don't have enough sports.

That's not going to happen. That's mainly been a certain fan base on the eastern side of the state.

But I was saying, it's not in danger of anything like that.

Like right now, I think that is the penalty. If, you know, for the, you need to have a total of 16, you know, I said it earlier.

I think that will, you know, to be a division one program, which obviously is, you know, the last thing that's going to happen.

Hey, my alma mater, Oklahoma state has a women's wrestling program that was founded within the last three years.

I believe maybe five, you know, definitely a recent team. And guess who the coach is?

Some we should know. I think you'll, you'll both know John Smith is the.

Oh, really? Okay. I didn't know that state. So I mean, I think it really depends like if you have an institution like that where wrestling's a big deal.

And you can really draw a lot of that same fan base over and get investments from people like John Smith.

And yeah, that could absolutely be a good fit.

Absolutely. Any final thoughts here, reporting move on to men's basketball?

I'm, I've got nothing, nothing else.

Stay tuned, stay tuned. Like I, I mean, and I don't say that to be the, you know, trying to sell subscriptions or trying, you know, drum up anything that's not there.

But I think this story is going to take not days, not weeks, but months to properly report on.

And I just want to set that expectation. But it's definitely my goal.

And I know the goal of a lot of other people to bring you the story of how we got here and everything that went down and to just bring delight what happened with this story.

So that's always my goal being transparent, being honest, doing this right the right way.

And I hope we eventually reach that conclusion.

Appreciate all your coverage on that, Ben. You've done a great job. Start to finish. So thank you.

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Men's basketball headline senior day at Hilton Coliseum story.

Taiman Lipsies last home game.

How you guys feeling following big Monday's loss at Arizona?

Well, they certainly could use a get well game, right?

And that great vibe, but certainly melancholic vibe too to see Taiman Lipsie play his last game.

At the arena he grew up from being however high taught in terms of height as a fan in and now as a record setting all time great cyclone.

You know the usual vibes I don't know if they I don't know if you change the way senior day is done for a guy like that, but be interested to see if they would do a little bit extra given.

And TJ talked to us today. He wants them to fully experience that him.

You know, Joshua Jefferson, Nate Heisey, but of course Taiman the aims native the the floor general you know it hits different for him.

And obviously other guys on the team who were seniors of all, but those are the main rotation guys.

TJ wants them to fully experience that, but at the same time this team has huge goals, right?

And coming off that tough loss where they played really tough at Arizona couldn't hit a shot.

In recent struggles after the two big top 10 wins at the time at home, there's so much out in front of them.

There's so much they have to get right, right?

So I thought it was interesting the way TJ talked about it, fully experience this senior day thing.

And then boom, then it's shut off and you know, he didn't try to make light of it.

He didn't try to say like, oh, we got so many more things.

No, he made a point say we we want them to really experience this and feel that adulation that they deserve.

But so much more to play for so much more to achieve.

I've only been around Iowa State basketball in real depth for two years.

And it feels like I've been around Taiman Lipsley for 10.

Like and I can't even imagine how everybody else in aims who has seen this guy grow up feels like in the emotions that will go into it.

But I think Robbie make a good point is going to be an emotional day.

No doubt on Saturday against Arizona State, you know, maybe we see some tears from TJ.

We'll see.

I don't know.

We can take odds on that.

But whatever emotions are going to be going through people's heads that day or going to pale in comparison to the emotions of a locker room potentially after an NCAA tournament loss.

And, you know, that is going to be kind of I think what maybe what a lot of people remember and think of and that shows you the stakes where hey senior day means something.

But you know, Taiman Lipsley obviously wants to not have that be kind of the core defining memory.

He wants that to be at a final four in Indianapolis or something to that effect.

So yes, we can celebrate the embassy, but it also reminds you of the stakes that there's a lot more to play for here.

Absolutely.

That I know you wanted to kind of go through our favorite team in moments.

So all around the subject.

Yeah.

Yeah.

What's the moment that comes to mind for you guys?

Well, I went outside the box as I tend to do that didn't go well for my big 12 bench basketball picks except the top one.

But T.C.'s come on a little bit lately.

But it's because I was there and only Travis signs of the one register and I were there at the DePaul game.

Meaningless game I think was December 1st two seasons ago.

Cyclones were about 19 and a half 20 and a half point favorites.

DePaul wasn't any good.

And the Cyclones came in and Trout Stim as expected, 1990, you know, big offensive night.

Entertainment Lipsy gets his 10th rebound with the 124 left in the game.

And yes, he was aware that that would give him a line of 15 points 10 assists and 10 rebounds for a triple double.

He was just really emerging.

I mean, he'd scored 20 plus a couple of times after this is, you know, fairly early in the sophomore season when he'd worked with Eric Crawford in the off season to get a shot right.

And he'd gone from 20% from three to, you know, high 30s, I believe, or maybe even I think that's where it was.

And that's just such a memory.

And I asked him about it today.

He said one memory he has of it.

He has had an uncle and a cousin at the game and he gave him their shoes, you know.

And they said, I think it was kind of playful, but they were kind of fighting over the shoes.

He's got a shoe.

But there's so many memories to choose from.

I choose that one because I think it showed who Taiman Lipsy could be.

And as he said, it shows he takes pride in that because he considers himself a well-rounded player.

And if you look at all the stats from throughout his career, a triple double seems like a fitting game to commemorate.

And what you got.

Yeah, okay.

And I'd love for our viewers to drop your favorite Taiman moment because I think it's so interesting.

Rob said, like, we could all come up with a different one and everyone would be right because there are so many of these.

Real quick, I asked TJ for his today.

And he didn't get a specific example, but said it has to be one of those diving on the floor, diving on the crowd, please.

One of those Taiman, please.

And I asked Taiman also, you know, you got to ask the guy.

He said that rebound against Houston this season was his favorite moment this year.

And then another moment specifically he mentioned was a kind of backwards drop pass, you know, that in a Baylor game, Rob.

I wasn't watching that one.

You guys might remember what he's talking about there.

And then my favorite Taiman, Lipsy moment, maybe a little different is not something that he did in the game,

but I just, what sticks with me is in the Ole Miss locker room last year after I was state lost in the round of 32.

He and Conrad just hugging it out in that moment and they were both crying.

And that's just going to be the moment that sticks with me.

I wrote about it then, you know, what one last look in the locker room revealed.

And I thought those are two guys so emblematic of the program.

You have the energy guy and you have the hustle guy.

Those are the things that make Iowa State basketball successful, not, you know, not the shots.

It's more of a culture and mentality over anything else.

So for whatever reason that moment of Taiman and Conrad hugging it out in the locker room is going to stick with me.

I don't know if I should feel stupid or smart, but my favorite moment, I was also going to pick the Houston rebound this year.

Because we've had Taiman plays for four years, but I feel like the term hasn't really been coined until this year.

And when it happens when he's a freshman, that one on the floor, you go, man, that kid's going to be awesome someday.

And now it's like holy crap, this kid is pretty awesome.

And you can really like appreciate, and you know, of course, Iowa State misses a free throw at the end of a game,

who's there to save the day, Taiman Lipsy.

And so that was just, that's the play for me.

I think that's one of the top ones in my mind too, because it felt like time was almost suspended.

You've got all the bigs there in the paint, and here comes Taiman Lipsy, all six, one of them.

I'll hobble constantly, because he dives to the floor a million times every game, soaring to get that one,

to put an exclamation mark in a huge win.

But yeah, I'm sure the viewers, the listeners have a lot that they could pull out to,

because he's made so many memorable plays, but I like the mix we put out there too.

The thing about Taiman Lipsy that I've always wondered is, what about his mind works in a way where he will attempt to make plays that us,

sitting there watching the game, other players, mentally consider over.

I mean, there'll be balls bouncing in the stands, I hate plays done, plays over.

And for whatever reason, Taiman Lipsy's mind does not go that way.

And he'll attempt to make plays that you don't even consider as basketball plays, because his mind just works differently.

Well, the deflections, the tip-outs are what come to mind the most, to be tipping it away from elite rebounders at times,

to just keep a play alive, or end a possession.

And again, TJ talked about it today too.

Some of those Taiman plays he makes come when it games over, or come in a moment that doesn't seem that big.

It doesn't matter what's happening, that's how he's wired.

That's the type of competitor he is, and I think that says as much about him as any results, any steals record,

and being way up there in assists, at all the points, a triple-double, a specific play.

It says Taiman plays, and we've touched on him, that really define him.

And that makes every game he's played, I guess emblematic of Taiman Lipsy.

We'd be remiss, and you might be ready to take us there.

But Hizzy and Joshua Jefferson, two other guys who are going to get recognized.

I think that also kind of sums up what they've meant to Iowa State, because Jefferson is the most humble guy

for being such a talented player ever.

He's kind of understated, and we all know how Nate Hizzy has embraced his role of coming off the bench

and being such an important piece.

And we didn't even talk about those guys, but how important have they been?

What an incredible senior day it's going to be to have those guys up there.

I did mention them briefly.

It's funny how they naturally talk about triple-double, Joshua Jefferson as a couple this year.

And he's been so important in coming off the really rough game against Arizona's Biggs.

But it's going to be emotional for him, too.

I mean, he came here, made a big deal, Blake Buchanan said he wanted him to come to Virginia with them.

They did some stuff and recruiting.

Last year, I think it was Jamie Dixon, a TCU thought it was like, I thought we hadn't come in here.

It was no foregone conclusion that Joshua Jefferson ends up in Ames, and I think it's gone great for him.

I mean, I think he's enhanced his stock.

I think he's been able to fully round out his game.

He was always a versatile player who could pass it as a big and handle it as a big.

But, you know, he's going to be as important as anyone on the team to how far I would stay can go in the NCAA tournament.

And as you said, I mean, just talk about the ultimate team guy.

I mean, I don't think he could ask for more, you know, the way he defends.

And I'm sure TJ would say it.

And most fans are probably saying, and now they need him to shoot the ball more.

And get his offense go work to get his offense going a little bit more versus just letting it come to him.

But, you know, a perfect fit for this team to have a guy like Nate Heisey coming off the bench.

I know he started a couple games, but in his career, but yeah, a lot of guys to be celebrated in that rotation for Iowa State.

It's certainly a special group, but guys, those three real quick.

There are some big 12 tournament implications give or take with Iowa State in Arizona State.

Not so much in terms of what those two do, but more in terms of what else could happen in the big 12.

There's still a handful of scenarios that has Iowa State getting that double by.

It's not looking good though.

Well, yeah, the thing that kept it alive was Arizona State, you know, beaten Kansas, right?

If Kansas wins that game, then I think Iowa State was locked into a single buy.

We can talk about that one.

I don't know if anybody stayed up to watch Bill Self get ejected.

I mean, that felt like the...

Then the smoke machines in the tunnel.

Guys, that was the most intramural feeling basketball game in the big 12.

I think I've watched it a long time.

That felt very bushly in a lot of respects.

And I loved it.

I loved making a basketball.

Yeah, it was great.

I mean, Arizona State's up what?

40 to 20 at half.

I mean, they're just dominant.

But Kansas is getting offensive rebounds.

We've done Iowa State's 15 offensive rebounds against Arizona, given what a elite rebounding team Arizona is.

And only getting five second chance points off them is staggering and it is.

But I think Kansas had even more at one point in that game.

It had zero second chance points.

So at that point, so just a utterly weird game.

I believe, and I could be wrong, the only scenario that gets Iowa State to the four,

is if Kansas loses to Kansas State on Saturday.

I believe that's...

That's the big one.

And I think BYU needs to win.

Oh, yeah.

I have a number of other dominoes fall.

There are some things going on.

But either way, I mean, it's going to be heck of an event, man.

I mean, Iowa State committed a five or a four.

I mean, as nuts as this season has been, this is going to be a tournament that won't be like...

I think recent years where you don't necessarily want to make a deep run.

I would argue, I would say to the one who played four games in four days,

but then certainly tournament right on the heels of it, as demanding as practices,

a little on the grueling schedule is for the cyclone.

So we'll see how it goes, but it's going to be a wild tournament.

I don't think there's any question about that.

Here's what's important about this in my eyes.

When Saturday rules around, we can all look at the other games in the big 12,

their scoreboard and count on other teams to kind of do Iowa States work for them in a sense.

Or we can focus our attention on how Iowa State looks and how the cyclones, you know, appear.

And I think that's the so much more important thing.

If they go in and bid errors on the state and shoot the ball well and shoot the ball confidently

and don't turn the ball over and get stops, do all the things that Oztelberger's been talking about,

do all the things that they did when they were the number two team in the nation.

That's way more important in my mind than, you know, you know,

hey, keep somehow getting a buy to avoid a game on Wednesday.

I mean, like Iowa State is going to go as far as Iowa State takes itself.

Iowa State's not going to depend on anybody else to do its work.

And that goes for Kansas City and that goes for the NCAA.

So more than any scenario with the tiebreaker or what have you,

I'm focused on how Iowa State looks.

And I think that's where TJ's energy should be.

I think that's where the players energy should be.

I think that's where the fans energy should be.

Is Iowa State needs to take care of itself.

And that's by far the most important thing.

And that's a great point.

And it's not like they're facing an Arizona team, Arizona State team.

They've been on the up late in the season.

I mean, granted much better at home than on the road.

But I mean, to beat Kansas, beat tech.

I mean, this is a team that can get you.

They've got length.

They've got an elite scorer.

I mean, yeah, you look at their record and you're like, hey, you know,

it's an afterthought.

It's senior day.

Of course, you're going to beat it.

That's not even, it's not a gaming game.

So Iowa State's going to have to play well.

They're going to have to get back to getting good quality shots

and knocking down the open looks they get.

Which they had a decent amount of against Arizona.

They just, they couldn't convert.

Obviously, Arizona contested a lot.

But they certainly could have shot better than 28, 29%.

So I expected, I expect at least a competitive game for a while.

And we'll see you up to your point, Ben, which is a good one.

Iowa State, quote, imposes his will unquote.

They, they break that team.

And that's, that's what I'm looking out for.

Well, we'll flip to one's basketball here in a second.

But we need to thank our friends over at Farm Story Meets.

They've been with the beat reporters all season long.

It is finally getting warm enough where you can fire up the grill.

And nobody plays to get your meat than Farm Story Meets.

Iowa State women take on Arizona State.

If you're listening today, today at 5.30,

if you're listening tomorrow, last night at 5.30.

You got to address the elephant in the room.

What do you guys think of that court in Kansas City?

I think an elephant would break that court.

Maybe the element would have walked on that court.

You got, it's malfunctioning already.

They had some IT guys out there trying to fix it.

It looked like and.

Look, this is three years in a row.

It's not a three years in a row.

This is two years in a row where the court has dominated the conversation point

with the big toe tournament, which is probably exactly what Brett

wants.

He's smarter than me.

He might be smarter than all of us.

But I don't know if it's a good thing to have the main discourse to be your court.

My take is if the players feel like there's not a tangible difference between the grip

and the traction and the forgiveness of it, then who am I to complain?

But I also pretty quickly get over the uniform stuff.

I get over the aesthetics.

I get over all of that.

There's a lot of design I really liked on Twitter, though.

I will say I like this.

Somebody put out one of the Iowa State burners, shout out.

Put out a kind of design of like a half and half court.

And I thought that looked kind of cool.

Iowa State could be shooting in Hilton Coliseum.

Kansas could be shooting in Allen Fieldhouse.

I think that would be really neat.

But honestly, that's just because I want to see TCU's court mixed with Iowa States.

I think that any publicity is good.

Publicity axiom slash cliche applies here.

Especially as a women's tournament's heating up and getting into full swing.

I mean, people are talking about the court.

Yeah, if they're saying, oh, it's malfunctioning.

You've got to do this.

That's still attracting attention to the big 12 tournament tournaments.

And then they still get in the obligatory.

You know, they've used this.

They use this at NBA All-Star weekend in 2024.

So there's all the little things they can add in that make it feel like it's a big time thing when it might just frankly just be nothing but a gimmick.

But I mean, your marks good that way.

He finds ways to push conversation and draw eyeballs or at least ears to a situation.

And I think that's that's ever a bad thing.

Now, of course, if an elephant or something like it did break the floor, that would be a different situation.

So you hope they have a backup.

That's a good point.

What would the backup be if something really goes wrong?

I assume they have an original floor being stored somewhere that they use for like if they do high school games there or when they have.

Some other games.

They've got to, right?

They got to have a backup floor.

We've seen individual panels go blue and kind of, you know, like any big screen.

You know, you have some some difficulty with individual panels.

I bet they have some panels back there that they could replace individual aspects of it.

Sure.

I mean, somebody's going to do a big story on the course.

I can't wait to read it because it's fascinating.

Well, we got that out of the way now.

We can talk actual basketball.

You know, how do you guys feel about the Irish Superman in Kansas City this week?

Well, wow.

Go ahead, Rob.

Yeah, I'll go first.

You know, it was important.

I think for them to draw a by.

And then I'm getting there is on a state in there, whatever they call it, second round game.

And we'll see.

I mean, Coach Fenley has told us that.

And he said something similar last year, but I think it's more true this year that they could.

He feels like they can beat anybody in the league in this tournament.

But they also, if they don't do the things they need to do.

To be successful, loose to anyone.

Now, I don't know if I would go as far as anyone, but I would say certainly.

Top 12 in the field has been win out of that point.

To some point here, but.

I don't know.

With Eddie Brown getting up to 30 minutes in the case date game, the board seeker abs 14 boards.

Audi Cricks going for 40 and 13.

Audi Cricks saying that it's Coach Fenley has been saying you don't want to see us in March.

Well, they've got a real chance to make a statement that that's the case.

The really unfortunate thing is it feels like they're almost destined to be in the 89 game.

And it's awfully hard to go to Columbia, South Carolina.

And think about getting past the game cocks on their home floor to get to the sweet 16 or stores Connecticut.

Of course, the real elephant in the room.

It's called women's college basketball.

Those Connecticut Huskies.

In Genevieve Ariem is Connecticut Husky.

So I went up there like central Florida that I better call him Yukon and not Connecticut.

I should think about that.

I just did a bunch of faux pas there.

But I think they're positioned to make a great run in this tournament.

And I would hope that if they did, it could maybe nudge them up out that 89 line.

But who knows.

There's one real bracketologist that people know and that's Charlie Kreme at ESPN.

And he's kept them consistently on that 89 line regardless of things.

But that case-taking was really encouraging to dominate them on the boards.

That's something they have to do if they're going to win against good teams.

There's never been a seven seed in my recent memory in the women's basketball tournament.

I have more faith in that could go all the way than Iowa State is right now.

And that's been my take consistently throughout this season is with stars like Adi Brown and Audi Crooks and Jada Williams.

I mean, that big three is elite.

And we've just seen them at times not all B on the court.

Sometimes struggle to put it all together.

But I think their ceiling is just about as high as any 8-9 team or seven seed in the big

tournament as there is.

And to get into it, I don't mind this path for them.

I mean, they play Arizona State first, a team that they beat by 26 points on February 18th.

So you like that matchup potentially.

And then they play, you know, number two seed West Virginia next.

Well, the cyclones have only played West Virginia once this season.

It's the middle of that five game losing streak.

It's hard to hold anything from what that team looked like in that five game losing streak without Adi, without AJ.

I think missed that time too, Rob.

So, you know, like you have to start, you know, you have to roll the dice.

That's a fresh game against West Virginia, essentially.

So I think potentially that could be a chance for the cyclones in.

It would be Baylor if things go chalk after that, which the cyclones, you know, took nearly to overtime.

I think in that one.

So I would say, man, like they could darn well make a run.

They've played TCU tough at TCU.

I think that they can beat any team in this big show tournament, which cannot be said for every women's college basketball team in Kansas City.

Absolutely.

Yeah, I think Bill finally had a quote earlier this week that.

He thinks his team could beat any team.

He thinks his team could lose any team.

And he thinks that most teams out there kind of think the same thing.

So it'll be an interesting weekend in Kansas City for sure.

And it's a good time to be a big 12 women's basketball fan for sure.

Yeah, I remember when I think it was after the Baylor loss, Rob.

Adi Crookes went in there and said, you know, you don't want to be a monster in January.

You want to be a monster in March.

Well, the first day of March, she was a monster.

In there against Kansas State.

And you really think that that could be maybe what pushes Iowa State to a run is monstrous performance.

It's like a 41 bomb from Audi.

Yeah.

And a key in that game that Bill family said after the game is he scored 93 points.

He turned the ball over 24 times.

That's unheard of to give the other team that many extra possessions.

And he still scored 93.

So this team can still.

Kenzie Harris hitting the three ball again after a long difficult stretch for her.

Pretty consistent, you know, high percentage three point shooter out of career every shooter's streaky.

They do seem to be peaking at the right time, which Audi Crookes also said in that game.

And I don't care if you can out rebound any team 30 to six in the second half.

You've got a chance.

You've got a chance against just about anybody.

So.

Yeah.

And Eddie Brown is family said they're sealing.

They can keep getting better.

And their ceiling can continue to rise.

And that's mainly because Eddie Brown is back.

And we'll see if she can.

If she can get close to 100% their score is going to come back to.

I mean, that's just a completely different Iowa State team,

which he's a threat to put up.

Gosh, she's put up 40 before.

So yeah, we'll be very interesting into that tournament for sure.

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Well, last but certainly not least,

not the only conference tournament going on this weekend.

Iowa State wrestling down in Tulsa for the big 12 championships.

And we just found out this morning that Evan Frost will not be going

for the cyclones, which means his season is over.

How do you feel Rob about Iowa State this weekend?

Yeah, I think they've still got obviously that's a really tough blow

for Evan Frost and all American and having a fourth ranked guy.

That's kind of been an out of the lineup.

We don't know details as to why.

Because when I and other stock coachdresser on Tuesday,

you know, he said knock on wood.

We're we're really healthy.

So you don't know again,

we're not privy to any details other than, you know,

late scratch Evan Frost.

Well, the goodness for Iowa State is Garrett Greys is beating two top 20 top 30-ish guys

in his limited time in doing action this year.

Because he was injured as well.

And they were high on him when they got him.

So if he can come in and make a little bit of a run.

And they get what they want from the headlines.

Of course, Rocky Elym at 197 and Younger Bastita.

Heavyweight, both undefeated, both top seeds, both dominant,

all season and a lot of other ranked guys.

And there are, you know, wild cards like MJ,

Gaitan, who always seems to perform his best in March.

I mean, they could challenge.

Still, I think Oklahoma State.

But I think Oklahoma State, frankly,

is a prohibitive favorite, even with, not prohibitive,

but a clear favorite with Evan Frost and the lineup.

I think Greys could perform extremely well.

But that's a lower weights.

I mean, every weight class is voted at a conference ceremony,

a big 12 tournament.

But it's certainly going to be interesting to see what can happen.

And it certainly stinks for Evan Frost, for sure.

But hopefully they can figure everything out with whatever the deal is with him.

And going forward for next season.

Yeah, the unfortunate part for Garrett Greys

is he has to take on Jacks Forest in the first round.

Yeah, yeah.

But the other news that goes along with Garrett Greys

is he needs to finish top seven to qualify for,

and so weight championships in a couple of weeks.

And Coach Strascher said they got to do a lot of work on the backside.

You want your guys to stay on the front side.

And you've got to do that.

And we'll see what type of metal Garrett Greys has.

You assume he probably isn't going to get past that opener.

But stranger things have happened.

But certainly there's a lot of bonus points won them the title two years ago.

And they'll certainly get that from some of their guys.

But wrestling great on the backside can get you titles too.

We'll see how it shakes out.

I'm sorry Ben, I know you were about to chime in.

No, you're good.

I just wanted to say it feels completely different for Iowa State wrestling this year

than at this point last year, where the injuries,

I mean, they, at this point in the season,

their legs were cut out from under them.

This year, it feels like even with frosts and news right here,

that Iowa State has a chance to do something special.

So I just think it's definitely nice to have that where it doesn't feel like,

you know, they're going in with one hand tied behind their back.

No doubt.

A lot of ranked guys, a lot of guys who, you know,

this tournament is going to be very important, obviously,

for getting a lot of NCAA tournament qualifiers

and getting to the best positions possible.

But they've got guys.

Not only a couple of guys who certainly should be considered,

if not favorites,

co favorites, you know, in Elam and Bestida to win titles,

but a lot of guys that it's kind of their time.

It's all American and Anthony Atrium and D.

I think it's his time to all American again

and challenge for the top.

So as you said, Ben, I mean,

the frost news is awful,

and we don't know exactly what the cause is,

but this team is still so much healthier than it was last season.

And certainly, I think would remain a convention to be a team trophy,

a team trophy, for sure.

All right.

Good stuff, guys.

If you don't have anything else to add,

I think we'll get out of here.

Appreciate you letting me hop on.

Hang out and Jake's place today.

Thanks for having us.

You were awesome, man.

Come back anytime.

Hey, thank you.

Thank you.

All right, for Rob Gray,

check his workout over on Cyclone Phenatic

and the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

Ben Hutchins with Quad City Times.

This has been the Beat Reporters here on Cyclone Phenatic.

From the Northwest Bank Studios,

we'll be back next week.

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