Editor’s note: This is part of the Star’s ongoing “Big 12 Blitz” series, where we introduce U of A fans to the on- and off-field need-to-know details surrounding each member of the new 16-team Big 12. Today: Iowa State University, located in Ames, Iowa.
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Iowa State probably won’t mind eventually making semi-regular trips to the state of Arizona for football games.
Not that the Cyclones need to play here to recruit here.
The most famous recent Cyclone football standout was born and raised in the Copper State. Quarterback Brock Purdy threw 99 touchdown passes over his final two seasons Perry High School in the Phoenix suburb of Gilbert. Yet he never received a scholarship offer from Arizona or Arizona State.
As Bill Seals, publisher of CycloneReport.com, tells it, Purdy wasn’t necessarily a top priority for Iowa State either. The Cyclones had a previous commitment for 2018 from fellow three-star QB Re-Al Mitchell of Southern California powerhouse St. John Bosco.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, a native of Queen Creek, Arizona, and alum of Iowa State, celebrates with the trophy after their win against the Detroit Lions in the 2023-24 NFC Championship game in Santa Clara, California in January.
“He actually lost his starting spot about midway through his senior year to DJ Uiagalelei,” Seals said, referencing the former Clemson and Oregon State quarterback now at Florida State. “(Iowa State’s staff) felt that maybe it would be a good idea to go in and sign a second quarterback in that class. Well, that second quarterback that they signed was Brock Purdy.”
Purdy went on to have a record-setting career in Ames. But he again was overlooked in the 2022 NFL Draft, lasting until the final pick.
Former Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy looks to throw during a Nov. 9, 2019 road game in Norman, Oklahoma. ISU pulled Purdy out of Arizona, a state where the Cyclones will play regularly in the new-look Big 12.
Purdy entered his rookie season with San Francisco as the 49ers’ third-string quarterback. By season’s end, he had led them to the NFC Championship Game. Last year, he paced the NFL in passer rating as the Niners reached the Super Bowl.
Purdy embodies Iowa State athletics: The Cyclones don’t get the attention they deserve.
Iowa State, which will appear on Arizona’s football schedule for the first time in 2025, is among a handful of teams that entered the 2024 season with a legitimate chance to win the Big 12 football title. The Cyclones’ basketball teams have won multiple Big 12 regular-season and tournament championships this century.
Iowa State coach Matt Campbell is doused with Gatorade by his players during the final seconds of the Fiesta Bowl against Oregon on Jan. 2, 2021, in Glendale. The Cyclones defeated the Ducks 34-17.
Seals, who has covered Iowa State for over 20 years, gave us the lowdown on the Cyclones, plus a primer on Ames, in the following conversation:
Considering how successful he’s been, are you surprised at all that Matt Campbell is still the coach at Iowa State?
A: “Well, if you get to know Matt, not maybe as much. Certainly for those that don’t cover the program on a consistent basis, on a weekly basis during the season, (if) you don’t get to know him, it’s pretty easy to say he’s going to be like any other coach at this level that wants to move up.
“I think it goes back to his roots. He was a player at Mount Union, an NCAA Division III school, got his coaching start there and went and coached in the MAC before coming to Iowa State. It’s just how he was brought up. He believes in Iowa State, he wants to be somewhere long enough to legitimately build a program. ... He’s consistently shown he’s in it for the long haul.”
Iowa State football coach T.J. Otzelberger hoists the 2024 Big 12 Conference Tournament trophy after beating Houston on March 16 in Kansas City, Missouri.
Iowa State men’s basketball cratered in 2020-21, going 2-22. What happened that season, and how has T.J. Otzelberger been able to turn things around?
A: “That first season you alluded to was the final one for Steve Prohm at Iowa State. The writing was on the wall going into that year. They probably could have changed coaches 12 months before that. They didn’t. The whole COVID thing hit. It was just a culmination of things, and the deck was already going to be stacked against them. Just one thing after another, and it just snowballs.
“They go out and get T.J. Otzelberger. T.J. had been an assistant coach at Iowa State under three different head coaches, so he spent time in Ames.
“I think, really, where it started for T.J. was surrounding himself with great coaching talent. He goes out and gets Kyle Green, (who) had been a longtime assistant coach at UNI (University of Northern Iowa). He’s been ... the defensive specialist ... and we all know that’s really been their calling card.
“Then he goes out and gets JR Blount, another coach from the Wisconsin area. They’ve got a lot of recruiting ties up there. Nate Schmidt, another (one who’s) done a great job in Michigan.
“They’ve also had a lot of continuity. Those three guys have been the cornerstones. It all started there.”
Iowa State men’s basketball has long been a big ticket in Ames, Iowa, but especially when Big 12 foe Kansas comes to Hilton Coliseum. On Jan. 26, 2016, David Morgan of Chicago (and plenty of others) hope for some of that famed “Hilton Magic” that day, amid a bit of wintery weather.
How would you describe what the home-court atmosphere is like for the Cyclones?
A: “It’s going to be packed every night in Hilton Coliseum. If you make it up for a game, you’re going to be impressed. Whether it’s a Wednesday night and it’s 10 degrees outside and snowing in Ames, they’re still going to pack ’em in there.
“I think it’s played a huge role. That ‘Hilton Magic,’ as they say, it was kind of lost at the end of the Steve Prohm tenure at Iowa State. ... It’s been a pretty remarkable rebuild, and it started with them taking care of business at home. They were undefeated in Ames last season, and it’s been a while since a Cyclone team’s been able to do that.”
Bill Fennelly has been coaching women’s basketball at ISU since 1995, which is pretty remarkable in this day and age. What is the key to his program’s ability to have success over the long haul?
Iowa State center Audi Crooks, right, celebrates with forward Nyamer Diew after scoring against Maryland during the second half of a first-round game in the 2024 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament in Stanford, California, on March 22.
A: “Very early in Bill’s tenure, he established an identity, how they would play, how they would win. Every year it’s a team that’s going to have a lot of shooters on the floor. That’s how they do it, shooting the 3.
“Going into this season, though, it’s all going to start with Audi Crooks, an in-state post player. They’ve got her back. She’s going to be a true sophomore. Addy Brown, another guard/slasher, also can really shoot well, another true sophomore. Those two are really foundational pieces for the team, and he’s done a great job on the recruiting trail as well.”
What’s Iowa State’s next-best sport?
A: “It’s going to be wrestling. That’s another program that Iowa State’s been really good at going back to the ’60s and ’70s, They’ve been great at wrestling, and they’ve been on the come-up here over the last few years under Kevin Dresser. He came over from Virginia Tech, and he’s built a great program at ISU. They finished (as a) top-10 program in the country.
“David Carr wins a national championship last season, and he had a remarkable four-year run, one of the greatest ever at Iowa State. Cael Sanderson is probably a name that rings the bell a little bit for you, and I’ll tell you what: Carr, maybe not in Cael’s class, but pretty darn close, and closed it out with a remarkable senior season.”
What is Ames like?
A: “Football recruiting (and) basketball recruiting are big things for me at CycloneReport. I talk to a lot of recruits. They tell me what they like about Ames, Iowa. Some of these kids (are) coming from a lot bigger cities than Ames (and) they like that it’s a smaller town, a college-campus feel.
“Certainly there’s stuff to do in Ames, but ... it’s hard to lose your focus as far as what you’re there for, and that’s to go to school and to play football or play basketball, wrestling. A lot of recruits like it for that; there’s not going to be a whole lot of distractions.
“There’s a lot of things to do and good restaurants (for visitors). If you’re a first-timer in Ames, everybody likes to go to Hickory Park. It’s a barbecue place that’s been there for decades.”
A referee avoids a collision between Iowa Wild forward JT Brown (25) and Tucson Roadrunner defenseman Vince Pedrie (34) during the Roadrunners’ 3-1 victory over the Wild at Tucson Convention Center on Oct. 25, 2019.
Do you have a personal favorite restaurant in Ames or an under-the-radar choice?
A: “I’m a big barbecue guy, so Cornbred is a personal favorite of mine. It’s a sit-down place where you go in and order and have a wait staff and stuff. It’s not a place I go to a whole lot. If I’m covering a press conference, I’ll just want to run through somewhere and grab something real quick. But if you’re up there before a game and you want to have a nice meal, I would highly suggest Cornbred. Aunt Maude’s is another one.”
Besides barbecue, what are some other activities for a visitor coming in for a game?
A: “Odds are (if) you’re coming up for a sporting event, you’re a sports fan. ... Des Moines (45 minutes south of Ames) is a minor-league sports market. You’ve got the Iowa Wolves, (who) are the G League affiliate of the Minnesota Timberwolves. A lot of really high-quality basketball.
“Also a minor-league hockey team with the Iowa Wild, which are (affiliated) with the Minnesota Wild. ... Even the Iowa Cubs (the Chicago Cubs’ AAA affiliate), if you come in the first few weeks in September.”
