Micah Byars - Men's Basketball Coach - Iowa State University Athletics

Micah Byars

Title:
Director of Basketball Operations
Email:
mbyars@iastate.edu
Phone:
515-294-8233

Micah Byars is in his 15th season on the Iowa State men’s basketball staff. Iowa State has enjoyed unprecedented success during Byars’ tenure. The Cyclones have qualified for 11 NCAA Tournaments, achieved a 291-181 overall record and placed in the top four in the Big 12 Conference standings in six seasons. Iowa State has also won five Big 12 Tournament titles during his time at the school.

Nine times a Cyclone student-athlete has earned All-America honors since Byars’ initial season at ISU (2011-12). Most recently, Curtis Jones was an AP Honorable Mention All-American in 2024-25. He joins Monté Morris and Georges Niang, who was the first two-time All-American in school history, among others. Niang also took home the prestigious Karl Malone Award in 2016.

In total, ISU players have been recognized by the Big 12 a total of 48 times in the last 14 seasons. An Iowa State player has won Big 12 Newcomer of the Year honors five times, while a Cyclone has also been named the player of the year, freshman of the year and sixth man of the year once each.

The 2024-25 Cyclones finished the year 25-10 overall and 13-7 in the Big 12 with an appearance in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Iowa State climbed to as high as No. 2 in the country in the AP Poll, the highest ranking in program history. ISU finished the season ranked No. 17 in the AP Top 25, the 12th time in program history the Cyclones have been ranked in the final poll. Iowa State ended the season in the AP Top 25 for the 32nd-straight week, the seventh-longest streak in the country. The Cyclones ended the season with four Top 25 victories, tied for the 10th-most in program history.

In 2023-24, the Cyclones won the Big 12 Championship and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. The Cyclones finished with a 29-8 overall record and a 13-5 league record, the second-most wins in school history. The 37 games played are tied for the most in program history. The Cyclones went a perfect 18-0 at Hilton Coliseum, the fifth undefeated year in the building's storied history. Iowa State had seven Top 25 victories on the year, including two wins over Houston when it was ranked No. 1 and No. 2 and a victory over No. 7 Kansas.

The 2022-23 Cyclones finished 19-14 on the year and 9-9 in the Big 12. Iowa State advanced to the NCAA Tournament and the Big 12 Championship semifinals, while also playing in the championship game of the Phil Knight Invitational in November. Iowa State opened the year with a 13-2 record, with the only losses coming to eventual National Champion UConn in the PKI Championship and at Iowa. Over the first 15 games of the year, the Cyclones knocked off No. 1 North Carolina, No. 12 Baylor and No. 17 TCU.

Iowa State led the nation with six wins over AP Top 10 schools. The Cyclones were one of two teams to have eight or more wins against AP Top 25 teams, as Texas (10) and Iowa State (9) led the country. The nine AP Top 25 victories are tied for the most in school history in a season.

The 2021-22 Cyclone squad finished 22-13 to complete one of the greatest turnarounds in college basketball history, improving by 20 wins from the previous season, the third-best improvement in the Division I men's basketball annals. The team, which was unanimously picked to finish last in the Big 12 Conference, went on to reach the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the third time in Byars' tenure.

ISU's Izaiah Brockington was Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and earned a spot on the All-Big 12 First Team, while Tyrese Hunter was Big 12 Freshman of the Year.

Tyrese Haliburton (second team) and Rasir Bolton (honorable mention) earned all-conference honors in 2019-20. Haliburton was also named a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award prior to suffering a season-ending injury in early February.

Bolton took home third-team accolades in 2020-21, while Jalen Coleman-Lands was an honorable mention selection.

In 2018-19, Iowa State went 23-12 overall and won the Big 12 Tournament by sweeping Baylor, Kansas State and Kansas. The Cyclones had four players earn All-Big 12 accolades from the league, led by Shayok on the first team. Shayok was also Big 12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player and a finalist for the Julius Erving Award. ISU defeated six ranked teams during the season, which included two of the largest margins of victory against a ranked school on the road when it beat Ole Miss and Kansas State by 14 points each.

In the classroom, Michael Jacobson was named an Academic All-American and he also took home Big 12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors.

The 2017-18 Iowa State team earned three wins against Top 25 foes. ISU’s 18-point win against No. 8 Texas Tech was its largest-ever against a Top 10 team prior to beating No. 9 Memphis by 19 points in 2021-22.

The Cyclones continued their impressive run in 2016-17, finishing 24-11 overall and winning the Big 12 Tournament title for the third time in four seasons.

In 2015-16, Iowa State went 23-12 overall and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for just the fifth time in school history and the second time in Byars’ time at the school. ISU won the Emerald Coast Classic.

The Cyclones won the Big 12 Championship title for the second consecutive season and finished 25-9 overall in 2014-15. Iowa State went 12-6 in conference action, finishing in a tie for second in the league.

The 2013-14 season was one of the best in Iowa State history. The Cyclones finished 28-8, advanced to the Sweet 16 and won championships at the Big 12 Tournament and Diamond Head Classic.

The season produced a pair of All-Americans in Melvin Ejim and DeAndre Kane. Ejim was also named the Big 12 Player of the Year and a Capital One Academic All-American.

In 2012-13, Iowa State advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year, reeled off a 22-game homecourt winning streak, tying for the second-best string in school history, and led the nation in 3-pointers per game at 9.9. ISU averaged 79.4 points per game, ranking third nationally and leading all “power-six” conference schools in scoring.

In Byars’ first season (2011-12), Iowa State qualified for its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2005, recorded 23 wins and tied for third in the Big 12 Conference with a 12-6 mark. The Cyclones appeared in the Associated Press’ Top 25 for the first time since 2005 and defeated two top 10 teams during ISU’s outstanding 2011-12 season.

Byars was responsible for monitoring the academic progress of the Cyclone basketball team as Director of Player Development. Iowa State posted a pair of the best semester cumulative GPAs in school history and had a Big 12-best four members on the Academic All-Big 12 squad, including three first-teamers, in 2011-12 ,thanks to Byars’ mentoring.

Byars was a valuable member of the UCF staff for six seasons prior to his arrival at Iowa State, as several Knight players earned national recognition in his tenure. In 2009, Jermaine Taylor was the C-USA Player of the Year and was an Associated Press Honorable Mention All-America pick before getting selected No. 32 in the 2009 NBA Draft.

The Knights advanced to the 2011 CBI semifinals, as Marcus Jordan and Keith Clanton earned All-C-USA honors.

A native of Gainesville, Florida, Byars was an assistant coach at Chipola College from 2003-05. The Indians won a school-record 34 games in 2005 while finishing fourth in the NJCAA national tournament.

Byars also worked at New Orleans (2001-03) and Santa Fe Community College (1999-2001) under Monte Towe prior to his time at Chipola. Santa Fe claimed back-to-back Mid-Florida Conference Championship titles.

In each of his five assistant coaching stops, Byars has been a part of staffs who have garnered either a conference player of the year or coach of the year award.

Byars attended Florida and spent two years (1994-95) as a member of the Gators’ football team at defensive back. He earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from West Florida in 2006.

Byars resides in Ankeny with his wife, Giselle, daughter, Jaisa, and son, Micah II.