Completed Event: Men's Basketball at Utah on February 24, 2026 , Win , 75, to, 59
Final
Men's Basketball
75
Utah
59
Iowa State University Athletics
Tinsley: From Playground Legend to NCAA Star
03.17.2000 | Men's Basketball
MINNEAPOLIS - Even Marcus Fizer, Iowa State's All-American power forward, often finds himself awed by the wizardry of Jamaal Tinsley.
"Each and every time we go out there, he amazes me. Coach gets mad at us for standing around," Fizer said Friday as the second-seeded Cyclones prepared for seventh-seeded Auburn in the NCAA Midwest Regional.
"We're standing watching this man do all kinds of things that are totally mystifying. It's wonderful to watch," Fizer said. "Just like Michael Jordan, you saw a lot of his teammates just standing around watching because if you blink your eyes, you're going to miss it."
In the other second-round game at the Metrodome, No. 3 seed Maryland faces sixth-seeded UCLA.
Fizer credits much of his tremendous junior season on the addition of Tinsley, a 6-3 junior point guard whom coach Larry Eustachy found dribbling through opponents' legs and making behind-the-back passes and dribbles at Mount San Jacinto (Calif.) Community College.
Tinsley was a Brooklyn playground star at age 14, and he spent more time on the asphalt courts with the likes of Ed Cota and Stephon Marbury than he did in the classroom.
Actually, Tinsley spent no time in the classroom. He skipped high school altogether so he could play basketball.
But as the years began to tick away, Tinsley saw the error of his ways.
"It was like all my other friends were doing something with themselves and I wasn't. I was just known on the streets," Tinsley said. "And I got tired of just being known in the streets."
So, Tinsley headed to Mount San Jacinto, where he spent as much time hitting the books as he did his jump shot.
Eustachy bucked conventional wisdom that Tinsley would be uncoachable and that his playground game was ill-suited for the Big 12.
"He adjusted quicker than most," Eustachy said. "It's been hard on him and he's had a lot of ups and downs. He's probably been in my office more than the rest of the team combined. He's a wound-up player and I'd rather have to wind a guy down than wind a guy up. He's a great story."
The addition of Tinsley transformed the Cyclones (30-4) from a .500 team into a power. With him at the point, Eustachy moved Michael Nurse, a natural shooting guard, to the two and Steve Johnson from guard to small forward.
"It took us a while to catch his passes because he's such a great passer," Johnson said. "You have to have your head up at all times."
Tinsley had 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting, six rebounds and six assists in the Cyclones' 88-78 victory over Central Connecticut State on Thursday.
Tinsley put on one of his Globetrotter-like moves on the Blue Devils that had his defender twice swatting at air and brought the Metrodome crowd to its feet.
"That's something you see every day in New York," Tinsley said with a shrug. "And you really haven't seen nothing from me yet."
Tinsley wishes he had played in high school, but he doesn't regret refining his game on streets.
"Street ball comes in handy," Tinsley said. "Because you know a guy like myself can do whatever he wants with the ball and get past his guy. Then, you just have to make the basket."
But Tinsley isn't one to show off all the time.
"I know when to put the playground behind me and do other things that will make my team win," he said.
Tinsley finds himself reflecting on his roots and wondering what if he hadn't gotten his general equivalency degree and headed off to college.
"I don't know where I'd be," he said. "I'd probably be in trouble somewhere. Probably be on a corner, a nobody. Like some guys on the corner right now."
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