While the college football season is in full swing for the Iowa State Cyclones, the team has recently announced some major news for their basketball program.
Coming off a Sweet 16 appearance and a really strong 2025-26 campaign, the Cyclones are coming into this season hoping to take another step forward.
Head coach T.J. Otzelberger has built a really impressive program for Iowa State, and even though they lost a ton of talent from last year, he worked the transfer portal hard to improve this squad.
Following the season, Joshua Jefferson went to the NBA and was selected in the first round of the draft. Furthermore, after testing the waters of the NBA as well, Milan Momcilovic went into the transfer portal and left for the Kentucky Wildcats.
Also, another player that figured to have played his last game with the Cyclones was guard Tamin Lipsey. The talented guard was a fan-favorite and has gone down as one of the best players in the history of the program. However, after getting a legal win for a fifth year of eligibility, Lipsey is officially back with the program.
Iowa State Makes Lipsey Return Official
– Iowa State Men's Basketball (@CycloneMBB) September 28, 2026
With the Cyclones posting a picture of Lipsey's jersey in the locker room, the guard is officially back for the program. This is a massive addition for the Cyclones, and Lipsey will fill a need.
Due to an injury to guard Killyan Toure, there was certainly some concern about the guard situation for the Cyclones in the early part of the season. Toure could be out until conference play in January, and that would have a major impact on the team.
However, with Lipsey back in the mix, Iowa State all of a sudden has one of the best guards in the Big 12 on their team once again. Last season, Lipsey averaged 13.5 points, 5.1 assists, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.3 steals per game.
On both ends of the court, Lipsey is a major factor, and his return has raised the ceiling quite a bit for the Cyclones.
Now, while he is eligible right now, there has been no shortage of legal battles going on around the country surrounding players getting a fifth year of eligibility. The NCAA is going to have some options to try and counteract this ruling, but as of now, it's great news and very exciting for the Cyclones.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/iowa-state as Iowa State Basketball Announces the Return of Tamin Lipsey .