T.J. Otzelberger - Men's Basketball Coach - Iowa State University Athletics

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T.J. Otzelberger

Title:
Head Coach

T.J. Otzelberger (OTTS-ull-burger), who has crisscrossed the nation recruiting all-star talent and building championship-level programs, is in his fifth season as head coach of the Iowa State men’s basketball program. In nine seasons as a head coach, Otzelberger has led his teams to six NCAA Tournament appearances and seven postseason berths overall. In just four years leading the Cyclones, he has the most AP Top 25 victories (25), AP Top 10 victories (12) and NCAA Tournament wins (5) in school history. He also boasts the best overall (.679) and conference (.568) winning percentages in school history.

Otzelberger returned “home” as the 21st head men’s basketball coach in Iowa State history on March 18, 2021 and immediately began to shape the program with daily habits that allowed the Cyclones to pull off one of the greatest turnarounds in college basketball history.

In just four years at the helm, Otzelberger has led the Cyclones to a 95-45 record and four trips to the NCAA Tournament. The 95 wins are the most by a coach in his first four years at Iowa State, while they are the seventh-most overall in program history. Otzelberger became the first coach is school history to take a team to multiple Sweet 16's (2022 and 2024). He also was the 51st coach in NCAA Division I history to take a team to the Sweet 16 twice in his first three years on the job. He is the first coach in program history to take a team to the NCAA Tournament in each of his first four years at the helm. The Cyclones went 48-10 against non-conference opponents in Otzelberger’s first four seasons, one of 11 schools nationally with 48 or more wins against non-conference teams.

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. Curtis Jones was named an AP All-American, while earning Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year and All-Big 12 First Team honors. Joshua Jefferson was named All-Big 12 Second Team and to the Big 12 All-Newcomer Team. Tamin Lipsey and Keshon Gilbert were named to the All-Big 12 Third Team, while Lipsey was also selected to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team.

While defense has been a staple of the Otzelberger era at Iowa State, the 2024-25 team produced five of the highest scoring Cyclone outputs under Otzelberger, including a pair of 100 point-performances. Of the 11 times the Cyclones have hit 90 points under Otzelberger, five of them came during the 2024-25 season.

Otzelberger was one of four finalists for the 2024 Werner Ladder Naismith National Coach of the Year Award. 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 rich 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.

Lipsey was named an AP Honorable Mention All-American, while also being a finalist for the Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year award. A trio of Cyclones earned honors from the Big 12. Lipsey was an All-Big 12 First-Team selection, while Gilbert was named to the second team. Lipsey was a unanimous selection to the All-Defensive Team, while Gilbert was named to the All-Newcomer Team. Milan Momcilovic was named to the All-Freshman Team.

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 title game 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.

One of the nation's best defensive teams, the Cyclones held all but one Big 12 opponent below its season scoring average. Giving up just 62.6 points per game, Iowa State led the Big 12 and ranked 19th nationally in scoring defense. That total included holding No. 8 Kansas to 53 points, the lowest conference total in the Bill Self era for the Jayhawks. Iowa State also ranked 19th nationally in steals per game (8.8) and 12th in turnovers forced per game at 16.55.

Four Cyclones were honored by the Big 12 coaches. Gabe Kalscheur earned All-Big 12 Second-Team honors and was also named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team. Jaren Holmes was named All-Big 12 Honorable Mention, while also earning a spot on the Big 12 All-Newcomer Team. Osun Osunniyi also earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors. Lipsey picked up a spot on the Big 12 All-Freshman Team.

Inheriting a program that went just 2-22 the season before, Otzelberger led a Cyclone team unanimously picked to finish last in the Big 12 Conference to a 22-13 record and the Sweet 16 of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.

Otzelberger and his staff pieced together a formidable roster that featured only three returning scholarship players from the season before, but through belief and playing for each other, jumped out to a 12-0 start, the second-best in program history, and climbed to No. 8 in the Associated Press Top 25.

In the NCAA Tournament, the Cyclones pulled off a pair of upsets as an 11-seed, defeating 6-seed LSU before shocking 3-seed Wisconsin in Otzelberger’s hometown of Milwaukee in front of a partisan crowd to reach ISU’s sixth Sweet 16 in school history. Iowa State became the first team to go from two wins the season before to the Sweet 16 the next season as Otzelberger became just the third coach in tournament history to lead his team to the second weekend in the first season after taking over for a team with a losing record.

The Cyclones ended up finishing plus-20 in the win category, which broke the previous record and is tied for the third-best turnaround in Division I college basketball history.

Iowa State was one of the nation’s finest defensive teams, finishing fifth nationally in defensive efficiency, 11th in 3-point percentage defense and among the top 25 in turnovers forced, turnover percentage, steals per game and scoring defense.

The Cyclones beat five AP Top 25 opponents during the season, the most by an Iowa State first-year head coach in school history and Otzelberger was a finalist for the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award.

The Cyclones won the Upsie NIT Season Tip Off at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, defeating nationally-ranked Xavier and Memphis en route to the title.

Individually, Otzelberger mentored Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Izaiah Brockington and Freshman of the Year Tyrese Hunter in his first season back in Ames.

Otzelberger won his 100th career game in his first game at Iowa State and has forged a nine-year collegiate record of 194-108. His teams have been extremely competitive in conference play with a 62% winning rate and four championship or runner-up finishes.

This is Otzelberger’s third stint in Ames, but his first as head coach. Previously, he was lead recruiter and bench coach for Greg McDermott, Fred Hoiberg and Steve Prohm. The last three Cyclone teams Otzelberger worked with as an assistant coach registered a 69-35 (.663) overall record with NCAA Tournament appearances every season.

Otzelberger left a flourishing ISU program in 2016 to begin building his own head coaching resume. He spent three successful years in charge at South Dakota State where his teams amassed 70 victories, won two regular season and conference tournament championships and earned three postseason appearances. At UNLV he was re-energizing the Runnin’ Rebels’ program, college basketball’s fifth-winningest program, but one that had not been to the NCAA Tournament since 2013.

At UNLV, Otzelberger was in the midst of restoring one of college basketball’s glamour programs. In his two seasons, the gains were being realized on the court, in recruiting circles and in the classroom.

In his first season (2019-20) in Las Vegas, the Runnin’ Rebels tied for second in the Mountain West Conference, won 12 league games (Rollie Massimino, in 1993, was the last UNLV coach to win more conference games), signed the MWC's No. 1-ranked recruiting class and excelled in the classroom.

UNLV won its final five regular-season games his first year as Otzelberger’s game plan started to take hold. The Runnin’ Rebels sent shockwaves through college basketball with an upset of undefeated and No. 4-ranked San Diego State, the school’s best road win in 30 years.

The 2020-21 roster included 10 players (seven freshmen), who had never played a game for UNLV. A 33-day break due to COVID-19 and losing its captain and starting point guard in January were other challenges that Otzelberger navigated. With the youthful roster, a month-long break from practice and competition and a season-ending injury to a team leader, UNLV endured four one-possession defeats to finish in the middle of the MWC.

At South Dakota State (2017-19), Otzelberger built reputations for winning and high-level offense. The Jackrabbits were 70-33 overall, won two Summit League regular-season titles, made the NCAA Tournament twice and the NIT once. SDSU finished seventh and fifth nationally in scoring offense his final two years.

In his rookie season as a head coach (2017), SDSU became the first team in league history to win three conference tourney games in three days to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The 2018 Jackrabbits set a school record with 28 wins, swept the conference regular-season and tournament titles and earned a No. 12 seed in NCAA West Region. They were the highest scoring team in school history and were among the NCAA leaders in points, 3-pointers, fewest turnovers, free throws and winning percentage. He was honored as the Summit League Coach of the Year.

Otzelberger’s final South Dakota State team won 24 games, captured the Summit League title again, ranked among the nation’s top 10 in five offensive categories and earned a bid to the National Invitation Tournament.

His star player was three-time Summit League Player of the Year Mike Daum. The sweet-shooting big man was an Honorable Mention All-American, became the Summit League’s career scoring leader and the 10th player in major college basketball history with more than 3,000 career points.

Prior to joining the head coach ranks, Otzelberger served two stints over eight years as an assistant or associate coach with the Cyclones. He started as an aid to McDermott and was credited with recruiting a number of stars – Craig Brackins, Diante Garrett, Mike Taylor, Scott Christopherson and Melvin Ejim – to the program.

Otzelberger was a holdover on the staff when Hoiberg replaced McDermott on the sidelines. His duties expanded – as he was promoted to Associate Coach – under Hoiberg. Otzelberger was in charge of scouting reports and game plans in 2012 and 2013 when ISU won 23 games each season and made the NCAA Tournament.

Otzelberger’s eye for talent continued under Hoiberg. Iowa State signed and developed a number of eventual professional players – Wesley Johnson, Justin Hamilton, Royce White, Chris Allen, Will Clyburn, Tyrus McGee, Georges Niang, Monté Morris, Abdel Nader, Matt Thomas, Naz Mitrou-Long and Deonte Burton while he was on staff.

The final two seasons with the Hoiberg-Otzelberger tandem in place were among the most-entertaining in school history. Iowa State ranked in the top five nationally for scoring and 3-point baskets while winning consistently in Hilton Coliseum, where the Cyclones registered a 22-game homecourt win streak.

Otzelberger was on Lorenzo Romar’s staff at Washington for two years (2014-15). The Huskies climbed as high as No. 11 in the national polls in 2014, and Otzelberger was credited with helping sign a Top 10 recruiting class in 2015.

When Prohm was named head coach in 2015-16, Otzelberger returned for one year with the Cyclones and that team won 23 games and advanced to the NCAA’s Sweet 16. ISU defeated four ranked schools, including No. 1 Oklahoma, in Hilton Coliseum.

In the community, Otzelberger was very involved with the Boys and Girls Club of Ames and he assisted in bringing the National Association of Basketball Coaches “Stay in to Win” program to central Iowa. At the 2017 NCAA Final Four, he received a prestigious NABC Guardians of the Game Award for his work with that program focusing on student success and dropout prevention.

Prior to Iowa State, Otzelberger was an assistant coach at Chipola (Fla.) Junior College, when the team was 33-4 and placed fourth in the NJCAA Tournament. He also spent three seasons at Catholic Central High School in Burlington, Wisconsin, where he was a coach and athletics director for parts of his tenure.

The 48-year-old native of Milwaukee was a two-year captain at UW-Whitewater, where he earned his business administration degree in 2001. He added a Masters’ of Science degree in Curriculum and Instruction from UW-Whitewater in 2004.

Otzelberger is married to Alison Lacey, a three-time All-Big 12 player for the ISU women’s basketball program. Lacey scored 1,620 points while leading the Cyclones to four NCAA Tournaments, including an Elite Eight (2009) and Sweet 16 (2010). She played professionally in the WNBA for the Seattle Storm, including its championship season of 2010. Lacey was inducted into the Iowa State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2022. The couple has three children: Jayce, Olivia and Stella.

T.J. Otzelberger Year-by-Year

Year	School	Record	Conf.	Postseason
2016-17	South Dakota State	18-17	8-8	NCAA First Round
2017-18	South Dakota State	28-7	13-1	NCAA First Round
2018-19	South Dakota State	24-9	14-2	NIT First Round
Totals	South Dakota State	70-33	35-11	2 NCAA/1 NIT
2019-20	UNLV	17-15	12-6
2020-21	UNLV	12-15	8-10
Totals	UNLV	29-30	20-16
2021-22	Iowa State	22-13	7-11	NCAA Sweet 16
2022-23	Iowa State	19-14	9-9	NCAA First Round
2023-24	Iowa State	29-8	13-5	NCAA Sweet 16
2024-25	Iowa State	25-10	13-7	NCAA Second Round
Totals	Iowa State	95-45	42-37	4 NCAA
Totals	Overall	194-108	97-59	6 NCAA/1 NIT