Mar 22, 2026; St. Louis, MO, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach T.J. Otzelberger calls a play during the second half against the Kentucky Wildcats during a second round game of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Le-Imagn Images
CHICAGO — Iowa State men’s basketball coach T.J. Otzelberger started his meet-up with the media on Wednesday afternoon with these forceful words: “Any speculation with me and any other jobs or opportunities is not true.”
End of story. Period. So he hopes pundits and fans alike will move on from the rumor mill-based matter — even though that’s unlikely to happen as plum jobs such as North Carolina open up.
“(I’m) really appreciative of and grateful to (ISU athletics director) Jamie Pollard and (new ISU president David) Cook, and conversations we’ve had, so just excited about our future,” he added.
That future is now for the second-seeded Cyclones (29-7), who will seek to advance past the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 for the first time since 2000 when it meets sixth-seeded Tennessee (24-11) at 9:10 p.m. Friday in the United Center. The game will be broadcast on TBS and truTV — and will be seen live and in-person by thousands of ISU fans poised to descend upon the Windy City.
“Let’s pack Chicago,” said Cyclones junior forward Milan Momcilovic, who leads the nation in 3-point shooting accuracy at 49.3 percent.
ISU’s ardent supporters are justifiably jazzed up to cheer on their team in the Sweet 16 for the third time in the Otzelberger era. But anxiety meets excitement for the cardinal and gold-clad fan base because All-American forward Joshua Jefferson — who suffered a severe ankle sprain early in the Cyclones’ first-round tournament win — remains questionable at best for Friday night’s matchup with the Volunteers.
“He’s working tirelessly every day, countless sessions in the training room trying to do everything he can,” said Otzelberger, whose team blew out seventh-seeded Kentucky, 82-63, in St. Louis despite Jefferson’s absence. “His ankle is getting better every single day. It’s gonna take right up to game time.”
Otzelberger said he won’t put “any percentages or predictions” out with regard to Jefferson’s ailing ankle, but he’s thrilled that it’s even deemed possible he could return to the court by Friday.
“This isn’t supposed to be something that you’re even in consideration for at this point, so credit to (head athletic trainer) Vic (Miller) and Joshua, but, again, we’ll take it as it comes,” Otzelberger said.
With our without Jefferson the Cyclones will find it difficult to diminish Tennessee’s dominance when it comes to rebounding. The Volunteers boast the nation’s No. 1 offensive rebounding percentage, at 44.5 percent according to KenPom.
“They’ve got size — a lot of size,” said ISU senior point guard Tamin Lipsey, who scored a career-high 26 points in Sunday’s win over Kentucky. “They’re physical. That’s something they hang their hat on, so it’s gonna be important for us to, to the best of our ability, win the rebound battle.”
The Cyclones have shined in that area lately. They’ve outrebounded their foes in each of the past six games after doing so just once in the previous seven. Couple that renewed toughness on the glass with career-high scoring, rebounding, and/or assists performances from Lipsey, freshman guard Killyan Toure, and junior forward Blake Buchanan, and ISU’s convinced its playing its best basketball of the season when it matters the most.
“I think more than anything, you’ve gotta play to your identity,” said Otzelberger, who’s helped mold his team’s identity around stern and suffocating defensive pressure. “The teams that have made it to this point have gotten there for a reason, and you’ve gotta continue to stay with who you are.”
And for Otzelberger, that’s being ISU’s singularly-focused head coach — for now and at least the foreseeable future.
“Obviously, I’ve known T.J. and know this is the place he wants to be,” said Lipsey, an Ames native and the team’s career steals leader. “So there are rumors every year, basically, when there’s a head coaching job (open). His name is brought up and that’s a credit to him and what he’s done with this program. … To see (him say) this is where he wants to be, to see him come out and say that right away, it should mean a lot to us players and just the fans in general.”
