Ames’ Tamin Lipsey (left) goes down the court during 4A quarterfinals between Ames and Council Bluffs Lincoln on March 10, 2021.
Over the weekend, I caught up with Iowa State commits Tamin Lipsey and Eli King’s AAU coach, Jay Fuhrmann, of D1 Minnesota. The following is a transcript of that conversation in Q&A form.
Stanz: How have you seen Tamin and Eli develop during their time with your program?
Fuhrmann: They’ve been with us for two years now together. You could just tell there was gonna be chemistry from practice one, and then especially game one. They kind of both looked at each other like, ‘You’re kind of like me, like one of those dudes.’ They’ve become great friends, they’re both unselfish, they only know how to play one way, and that’s hard, and they just complement each other so well. It’s amazing to coach these guys.
Stanz: How would you describe their games to somebody who has never seen them play?
Fuhrmann: Relentless. They never take a possession off on the offensive end, defensive end. They’re always in attack mode. They’re always unselfish. They’re warriors; you know what I mean? When you think of a warrior, somebody out there who never stops, busts his ass every single moment, that’s those two kids. You watched them. Do they ever take a possession off?
Stanz: Not that I ever saw.
Fuhrmann: Exactly. Everybody takes a possession off, but not these two.
Stanz: What have your interactions been like with Iowa State’s new staff?
Fuhrmann: It’s been great. I mean, they probably reach out once a week, for sure. You know, right when TJ got hired and Kyle Green went over, they called me up, said it’s gonna be a priority for Tamin and Eli and they made them a priority.
Stanz: It has been a long time since Iowa State was really about to make inroads recruiting in Minnesota. What will it take for them to gain some more footing there?
Fuhrmann: Well, they just got three kids from Minnesota (in transfers Robert Jones and Gabe Kalscheur plus King). To me, it’s just relationship building and that’s, you know, (I’m) starting to get to know TJ better but that’s what Kyle Green does. He builds relationships and I know TJ in the past has. That’s the main thing to me. Kids just want to feel wanted.
