Iowa State player Curtis Jones is eager to lead his team to another deep run in March

Otzelberger pleased with guard’s growth and perseverance last season

AMES — With 32 seconds left, Iowa State guard Curtis Jones stepped to the free-throw line, took a deep breath and calmly hit two game-winning free throws.

Date: January 20, 2024.

The opponent: No. 19 TCU.

The result: a 73-72 victory for the Cyclone, marking the start of a remarkable run for ISU’s indispensable sixth man.

Jones scored in double figures in 14 consecutive games to close out the 2023-24 regular season. The Cyclones won 11 of those games, but Jones was just getting started. The former Buffalo transfer eventually scored a career-high 26 points in ISU’s Sweet 16 loss to Illinois, establishing himself as one of head coach TJ Otzelberger’s most clutch performers — a role he’s eager to fill again this season, whether he starts or comes off the bench.

“I put in a lot of work in the gym and that work usually shows,” the 6-4 senior said. “It might not show right away, but it does. (So I) just trust myself and believe in myself.”

First, Otzelberger and his staff — and Jones’ teammates — had to trust him. He struggled early last season, shooting 9 of 42 3-pointers in his first seven games. But his minutes began to climb toward the end of the nonconference season, and his contributions on both ends of the court increased accordingly.

“The TCU game, I felt like he really stepped up for us,” said Otzelberger, who has led the Cyclones to two Sweet 16 appearances in his first three seasons as head coach. “You could see that confidence growing, and as we got to the end of the regular season and the postseason, there was nobody on the court that was more confident than him. So I think his behavior, that’s what counts. His confidence counts. What we’re seeing in practice now is a guy who’s stepped up as a leader, and you can tell him I told him that when he comes here.”

Jones didn’t need that positive reinforcement, but he appreciates it. He’s part of a highly experienced backcourt, along with Tamin Lipsey and Keshon Gilbert, that is determined to propel ISU to greater heights this season.

“We all sit down, have breakfast and dinner together, have conversations, laughs, stuff like that, it helps,” said Jones, who had multiple steals in 11 games last season. “So we’re together (and) that helps and that’s the biggest thing. I feel like it’s going to be even better now having a second year with the same guys because we were (close) last year.”

Gilbert, the Cyclones’ leading scorer last season, expressed those tire-based sentiments.

“We know what’s expected,” Gilbert said. “We know how to set the tone in practice every day, so I feel like we’re raising the bar every day. Everybody has to step up and match us. We never come in slacking. We come in like, ‘This is what it is, and this is how we’re going to do it.'”

Jones wasn’t sure he’d ever make it to the highest college level. He didn’t get many offers out of high school, so he enrolled in a community college. Then Buffalo gave him a shot, and ISU followed suit last season. Now Jones is a key part of a veteran Cyclone team expected to do big things again this season — and he’s ready to turn the weight of expectations into exciting results.

“He’s playing at a really high level (and) my confidence in him continues to grow because he puts in the hard work,” Otzelberger said. “He’s an everyday guy and we continue to challenge him to elevate himself and his teammates because he did a great job of that last year and we’ve seen tremendous progress even from that point.”

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