Getty T.J. Otzelberger will commence his head coaching tenure with Iowa State on Tuesday.
Head coach T.J. Otzelberger makes his Iowa State debut on Tuesday as the Cyclones open the season with Kennesaw State.
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The game (8 p.m. ET start time) isn’t on TV, but anyone in the US can watch Kennesaw State vs Iowa State live on ESPN+:
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Once signed up for ESPN+, you can watch Kennesaw State vs Iowa State live on the ESPN app on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4 or 5, Xbox One or Series X/S, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), Samsung Smart TV, Oculus Go, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
You can also watch on your computer via ESPN.com.
Kennesaw State vs Iowa State Preview
T.J. Otzelberger returns to Ames as head coach of the Iowa State Cyclones after previous stints in assistant roles.
Otzelberg will look to return the Cyclones to relevancy after two losing seasons — especially the 2-22 mark last season. Iowa State last went to an NCAA tournament in 2019, which is considered a while ago for a program that has seven appearances since 2012. The Cyclones have an 18-game losing streak going into the season.
“This place means everything to my family and I, and we’re not going to recruit guys that don’t value it to that same level,” Otzelberger said according to Eric Olson of the Daily Jefferson County Union.
That doesn’t mean Otzelberger expects an overnight turnaround.
“Certainly we hope sooner rather than later,” Otzelberger said per Olson. “I’ve seen it happen here in this program. I’ve lived it. I’ve witnessed it. I’ve been a part of it. So I know what it looks like.”
His latest journey with the Cyclones tips off against a Kennesaw State, which went 5-19 last season. The Owls have experience back including leading scorer Spencer Rodgers, who averaged 16.3 points per game. He also posted 3.6 rebounds, two assists, and 1.1 steals per contest.
Chris Youngblood also returns for the Owls after averaging 12.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.8 assists for last season’s squad. Terrell Burden averaged 7.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and a steal per game.
“I’m really excited about the work they put in this summer,” Owls head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim told the media in October per Field Level Media. “They worked really hard and came together as a team. We’re going into the season a year older, a year tougher, and a year smarter.”
ISU doesn’t return significant experience, 20 starts worth, which makes the Cyclones one of the most inexperienced teams around according to Cyclones.com. It didn’t help that ISU lost Xavier Foster to the transfer portal amid sexual assault investigations. On the flip side, ISU landed a significant transfer in Tristan Enaruna from Kansas.
Tre Jackson is the top returning scorer for the Cyclones. He averaged 5.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.3 steals in 27.3 minutes played per game.
George Conditt IV and Jaden Walker also return. Both averaged between 14 and 20 minutes last season. Walker scored 3.2 points per game, and Conditt averaged 2.4 points per night.