AMES – T.J. Otzelberger and Jerome Tang opted Wednesday to keep the details of the conversation they had on the court at Hilton Coliseum Wednesday between themselves and out of the public eye.
However, that changed when a report surfaced that alleged Iowa State had stationed people behind the Wildcats’ bench to film the team during timeouts.
On Saturday, near the time that Iowa State’s game against Kansas had tipped off, a report surfaced with Iowa State Athletic Director Jamie Pollard interviewed by Seth Davis of The Messenger and dispelled those claims.
The report stated that he had reviewed the game tape twice from Iowa State’s win over Kansas State on Wednesday, and found no evidence of the claims.
“It absolutely did not happen,” Pollard said in the Messenger report. “It’s a ridiculous allegation that is not fair to our coaches, our student managers and our players. I’m extremely disappointed that the Kansas State basketball staff has allowed this to fester, because it’s not right.”
Otzelberger spoke about the allegations during his postgame press conference Saturday, and was angry about the accusations.
“It’s incredibly disappointing that after such an awesome game and awesome environment, that I even have to begin by addressing something that happened earlier this week,” Otzelberger said. “The ludicrous rumors earlier this week, that somehow we’re trying to gain an advantage by looking into our opponents’ huddles is an affront to our players, our fans, and to me. It’s not who I am. It’s not what our program is about. And, I’m angry that someone would even make that suggestion.”
T.J. Otzelberger’s statement on accusations of cheating during the Kansas State game: pic.twitter.com/sjvztSt7wY
— CycloneFanatic.com (@cyclonefanatic) January 27, 2024
Otzelberger also took issue with a K-State staff member that had a verbal altercation with an Iowa State student manager.
“What is factual, is one of their staff members cursed out one of our student managers, who (was) mopping the floor under the basket,” Otzelberger said.
So let’s put this to bed here and now. It didn’t happen. It won’t happen. And others need to be much more careful with their words moving forward.”
The full press conference can be seen below:
