Peterson: Next for Iowa State basketball? A 20-game Big 12 Conference schedule

AMES – JT Rock stopped me on the way out of Iowa State’s locker room after an NCAA Tournament victory against Washington State in Omaha.

“Look around,” the redshirt freshman suggested. “Look around.”

At what was I looking, other than a bunch of happy Cyclones who’d just advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16?

“The reason I chose Iowa State,” the 7-footer said. “This is it.”

This was his 'it’ moment all right. It was the moment that should have struck every Iowa State fan, showing that T.J. Otzelberger’s program has every opportunity to raise the bar that became even higher during this wonderful 29-win run.

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We didn’t even know who some of these guys were when they joined the program. Keshon Gilbert? Someone on staff during the summer told me to think DeAndre Kane, a former star who could do a lot of everything – around the rim and away from it.

“DeAndre could get the ball in the paint, at the rim and get to the foul line,” Otzelberger recalled. “Keshon is a dynamic player, too. He gets downhill, can live in the paint, gets to the foul line, and he’s a great finisher.”

Who was this Milan Momcilovic guy, other than a 6-foot-8 true freshman with eventual transferable NBA talent?

“I knew coming in that my offensive game was the strongest asset of my game,” he said last October. “I can shoot the ball, and that’s what I’m really good at, so that’s what I’ve got to focus on, and the defense has to come too.”

Said Otzelberger: “When you’re 6-8, 6-9, and you’ve got a high release and a quick release on your shot – when it’s going well, there’s not a lot anyone can do about it. He’s done a great job.”

With Tamin Lipsey, Rob Jones, and Tre King rounding out what would become a season-long first five, those of us fortunate enough to be around the team daily knew this season could be special. Special enough to win the conference tournament, rise to as high as fourth nationally, and go into the NCAA Tournament as a No. 2 seed?

Unless you’ve got 'UConn' on the front of your jersey, you just never know.

Otzelberger’s best coaching job yet for Iowa State basketball

We sensed another high-end product built around lockdown defense so intense, that opposing coaches often sought verbal pity from the refs. Mostly, they either got stern stares – or technical fouls.

Victories against Kansas at home, Houston at home and in the Big 12 Tournament title game were memorable, no doubt.

Sure there were lows, but not many. And the fact that the guys recovered so nicely from that 65-58 clunker of a loss at Kansas State in the regular season finale – well, that spoke to the character of Otz’s third Cyclones team.

More: Peterson: Milan Momcilovic's step-back is unguardable for Iowa State basketball

What happened after that trip to Manhattan, however, was an example of what this team has been about – Iowa State kicked adversity smack dab on the bottoms of unsuspecting opponents, who at times didn’t know what was hitting them.

Each postseason game – against Kansas State, Baylor, Houston, South Dakota State and Washington State – was better than any game they’d played.

Best Iowa State basketball season under Otz? Without question, and yes, it can continue.

Another successful rebuild for Iowa State basketball

This wasn’t just temporary, quick-dry cement that Otzelberger and his staff used to build the program’s foundation. They looked around, mostly in the Midwest. They found the good stuff, in this looney world of the transfer portal and name, image and likeness rules.

“This has been a great learning opportunity – to take in how the guys approach game day, and how they process all the (pre-game) information, and then use it successfully on the floor,” Rock told me amid the celebratory atmosphere of the locker room.

I mention Rock because he’s a future piece of the program. Ranked as the top player in South Dakota, Rock reclassified academically, so he could be eligible this season. The Top 100 recruit averaged 18 points, 10 rebounds and 4.5 blocked shots per game during his last competitive season. He redshirted because, at 17 years old, he needed time to work with the Cyclones’ staff and his teammates. He needed to get bigger, stronger faster to play at the high level that Big 12 competition demands.

“Sure, it was tough sitting out,” he said. “Early on, I struggled a little. As the season went on, I was able to adapt more to my role in doing what I can to help on game day.”

What’s next for this Iowa State program that continues trending upward?

This seems an appropriate place to insert this bit of advice to Iowa State fans:

Don’t concern yourself with who entered the transfer portal after the season. Omaha Biliew, you wonder? With the roster returning and the newcomers on the way – the former McDonald’s All-American wasn’t likely to get more than 12 or so minutes a game – even with good offseason improvement.

More: Omaha Biliew is among four Iowa State basketball players headed to the transfer portal

You’d transfer, too. He’s a good guy. He’ll become a fine major college player. It’ll just take time.

I saw longtime director of basketball operations Micah Byars standing in a corner of the small locker room in Omaha. His job includes non-conference scheduling, which, by the way, seemed to work out pretty well, eh?

Iowa State will participate in the Maui Invitational, Nov. 25-27, at Maui's famed Lahaina Civic Center. They’ll join Auburn, Colorado, Dayton, Memphis, Michigan State, North Carolina and UConn in what’s always a power-packed event.

There’s also a game against an opponent from the Big East, and let’s not forget Cy vs. Hawk, which this time, is at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

And there’s this: For the first time, a 20-game conference schedule – that coincides with the addition of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah, and finally, the deletion of Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12.

Translated? That’s two more conference games than the previous 18, three games against high-end competition in Maui, a Big East opponent at Hilton Coliseum and the Hawkeyes.

If you’re concerned about the non-conference schedule next season, then you’re a master overthinker.

“I can’t wait,” Rock told me as I headed out the locker room door.

Iowa State columnist Randy Peterson is in his 52nd year writing sports for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at rpeterson@dmreg.com, on X @RandyPete, and at DesMoinesRegister.com/CyclonesTexts

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Peterson: The ceiling continues high for Iowa State basketball