Completed Event: Men's Basketball at Utah on February 24, 2026 , Win , 75, to, 59
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Men's Basketball
75
Utah
59
Iowa State University Athletics
Behind The Scenes At Big 12 Media Day
10.24.2008 | Men's Basketball
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla.- The Iowa State men's basketball team participated in the Big 12 men's basketball media day on Thursday in Oklahoma City, Okla. Head coach Greg McDermott and student-athletes Craig Brackins and Bryan Petersen represented ISU at the annual media gathering which previews the upcoming season.
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Preseason media days are always held in the same city where the conference postseason tournament is conducted, making Oklahoma City the site for this season's event. The following timeline is an exclusive behind-the-scenes look of the two-day experience for the Cyclone contingent.
Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008
4:35 p.m. - A tired Bryan Petersen and Craig Brackins board the Iowa State University plane at the Ames Airport. Both players were up at 5 a.m., to prepare for a tough two-hour practice which began at 6 a.m., followed by a full day of classes.
4:37 p.m. - Head coach Greg McDermott and the players are anticipating a bumpy takeoff, as 30 mph wind gusts are in the Ames area. Takeoff is surprisingly smooth as the passengers settle in.
4:45 p.m. - The windy weather reminds McDermott and associate director of athletics communications Mike Green, who is also a member of the travel party, about last season's media day flight back home from Kansas City. The team went through a heavy thunderstorm, causing severe turbulence. Green asks McDermott, who has been countless flights, if it was the scariest flight he has ever been on. Without hesitation, McDermott says, “It was the worst, times 100. There was a five-minute stretch where we dropped suddenly and the whole plane rocked violently back and forth. The rain was pounding so hard you could barely hear anything and all you could see out of both windows was lightning bolts. We were all scared to death, except for Jiri (Hubalek), who was laughing the whole time.”
4:55 p.m. - As the plane reaches cruising speed, Petersen opens up his Physics book and then brushes up on his Sociology of Sport class notes. Brackins takes a look at his Lindy's preseason basketball magazine for awhile before taking a much-needed nap.
5:17 p.m. - Petersen and McDermott talk about how practice is going so far. Both have been impressed with the play of freshman center Justin Hamilton: “He is a real smart guy who is quickly picking up the offense,” Petersen said. “He is not afraid of contact, has great hands and works really hard.”
6:50 p.m. - The Cyclones arrive at Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City. McDermott checks his messages and has a voice mail from men's basketball trainer Vic Miller. McDermott calls Miller, who tells him the news that Lucca Staiger will have his right knee scoped on Friday. Staiger aggravated his knee on the first day of practice and has been sidelined since.
6:55 p.m. - McDermott calls Staiger to see how he is doing and cheer him up: “You can't get down over something you can't control,” McDermott tells Staiger. “Keep your head up and hang in there. It's going to work out.” After hanging up, McDermott tells Brackins and Petersen to give Staiger a call later for encouragement.
7:20 p.m. - The Cyclones quickly check into the Renaissance hotel before heading out to get a bite to eat. On the way to dinner, Brackins notices a Cyclone bag lying in the hotel lobby. The bag belongs to Green, who forgot it during check-in after placing and answering calls to the media about Staiger's status.
7:50 p.m. - The Cyclones head to Bricktown for dinner. Brackins discusses his displeasure of early morning practices. McDermott tells him of an experience he had while playing at UNI: “We once had a three-hour morning practice where it was dark when we started and it was still dark when it ended. We started running at 3:30 a.m.” Brackins' response, “That's crazy.”
8:14 p.m. - Brackins asks McDermott about the other coaches in the league and former Texas Tech coach Bobby Knight. McDermott got a chance to play golf with Knight in his first year with the Cyclones at the coaches' meetings: “We spent most of the day in the weeds looking for his ball,” McDermott said.
8:40 p.m. - Brackins and Petersen discuss the strongest players in the league from ast year. Brackins nominated Texas A&M's Bryan Davis and Kansas' Darnell Jackson. Petersen gave the nod to Oklahoma's Blake Griffin. Brackins recollected that the Kansas players from last year's national championship team were pretty cool: “Brandon Rush was having normal conversations with me during the game. It was funny. Jackson elbowed me really hard in the chest once, but then came down the court the next time and told me he was sorry.”
9:10 p.m. - The Cyclones make it back to the hotel and go over the plan for tomorrow. Everyone finds their room to rest up for tomorrow's long day.
Thursday, Oct. 23, 2008
7:35 a.m. - The players are up and ready for the 8 a.m., start of Big 12 media day.
8:30 a.m. - McDermott is on the stage answering questions from the national media. He opens up by talking about having returning experience in the backcourt for the first time in his Cyclone tenure. He talks about the turnover in the league and how important it is to take care of business at home.
8:36 a.m. - A reporter asks McDermott how tough it was for Staiger to sit out last season. McDermott credits Cyclone fans for their unbelievable support: “Our fans are absolutely the greatest. There is no doubt the support they gave Lucca while he sat out last season helped him decide to stick it out.”
8:40 a.m. - A reporter asks McDermott about his newcomers. McDermott says he has been pleased with all of them: “(Wes) Eikmeier can really shoot it and he has shown us that he can do some things, like put it on the floor and create, that we as a coaching staff have been really happy with.” McDermott also talks about freshman center Justin Hamilton and notes how his size will really benefit the team: “He gives us something we have not had here in awhile.”
9:00 a.m. - Brackins bumps into an old friend, Nebraska's Ade Dagundaro. Dagundaro and Brackins are from the same area in Los Angeles: “I have been friends with A.D. for three years," Brackins said. "He is a great guy. His parents live about three blocks from my mom.”
9:10 a.m. - McDermott has a long conversation with Texas A&M head coach Mark Turgeon as he waits to enter the ESPN interview room. McDermott and Turgeon coached against each other numerous times when they were head coaches at Northern Iowa and Wichita State, respectively.
9:15 a.m. - McDermott gives Brackins grief about his Mohawk haircut he sported earlier in the year. Brackins fires back, “John Roberson (Texas Tech) has one.” McDermott retorts, “Yeah, but he is shorter than you. He needs the height.”
9:33 a.m. - Petersen and Brackins laugh with Rick Brown (Des Moines Register) and Courtney Linehan (Ames Tribune) about Diante Garrett's scrapes on his face. He now has cuts above both of his eyes after taking inadvertent elbows in practice. “He looks like Butterbean,” Brackins laughs.
9:50 a.m. - During a lull between interviews, Brackins takes a voice recorder and does a mock interview with Petersen. He asks Petersen what his goals for the season are. Petersen responds sarcastically, “My goal is to jack as many threes as I can and make sure the ball does not go into the post.”
10:00 a.m. - Brown asks Brackins how the longer 3-point line will effect college basketball: “I think it will help create better spacing and teams will be more able to spread floor much easier.”
10:07 a.m. - McDermott hears about Brackins' mock interview with Petersen, and asks him, “Did you say anything intelligent?”
10:10 a.m. - The Cyclones head back upstairs for a quick breakfast before participating in the breakout interview rooms. Petersen and Brackins both talk about calling Lucca last night to help raise his spirits.
10:40 a.m. - Brackins crosses paths with Jermyl Jackson-Wilson of Colorado. The two chat about how their practices have been going so far.
11:00 a.m. - McDermott goes to the coaches interview breakout room while the players wait outside and mingle with the other Big 12 players in attendance.
11:38 a.m. - Brackins and Petersen discuss when they went to bed last night. Petersen fell asleep at midnight, while Brackins was up until 2:30 a.m. Brackins laughed about Petersen's sleeping habits: “He would wake up and look right at me, and I would say ?Hey,' but then he would fall right back asleep and not say a word!”
11:52 a.m. - Brackins and Petersen chat about Game 1 of the World Series last night, bringing back memories of baseball glory for both of them. Brackins played baseball at Brewster Academy in prep school, seeing time in right field and pitcher: “I once struck out a guy that got a full-ride baseball scholarship to Rice,” Brackins boasts. Petersen tops Brackins: “I led my conference in batting my senior year in high school. I hit .437.”
Noon - Brackins and Petersen head into the player interview breakout room, while McDermott talks with Nebraska head coach Doc Sadler.
1 p.m. - ISU's host picks them up at the hotel and drives them to the airport for their return flight to Ames. Big 12 media day is officially over.
1:08 p.m. - On the 15-minute ride to the airport, McDermott asks Brackins how everything went: “It was pretty laid back. I thought it would be super hectic.”
1:10 p.m. - Green asks Petersen what was the weirdest question he was asked. Petersen said someone asked him what is the most embarrassing song on your ipod is: “I broke down and told her I have a Backstreet Boys song on it.”
Brackins was asked which teammate would do the best on American Idol and Dancing With The Stars: “I told them D.G. (Diante Garrett) would be great at American Idol. The dude sings all the time. L.A. (Pomlee) would be the guy for Dancing With The Stars.”
1:35 p.m. - The Cyclones board the plane and get ready for takeoff. Petersen and Brackins quickly try to catch a nap, while McDermott starts to watch video of yesterday's practice.
3:25 p.m. - The Cyclones land in Ames. The players and McDermott thank the pilots and head to their cars: “See you guys at practice tomorrow,” McDermott says, capping off another Big 12 media day.
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