Iowa State Director of Athletics Jamie Pollard took to social media to make a statement regarding the recent changes around the men’s and women’s basketball programs. You can watch the statement at this link or read the transcript below.
General thoughts:
“Hello Cyclone fans. I wanted to provide several updates with our men’s and women’s basketball programs, but before I do that, I wanted to take this moment to simply say thank you. Thank you for your amazing continued support of both our programs, whether it’s in Hilton Coliseum or being down in Kansas City at the Big 12 Men’s or Women’s Basketball Tournaments. For the absolute amazing turnout we had in Chicago for the Sweet 16. Our fan support for men’s and women’s basketball is second to none, and I want you to know we will never, ever take that for granted.”
Men’s basketball update:
“Now, some updates on our men’s basketball program. Although our run in the NCAA Tournament ended sooner than any of us would have liked, we still can take great pride in the fact that we won 29 games. We were in the top 10 the entire season and we got the number two seed in the NCAA Tournament. There is so much for us to be proud of. In addition, I’m very excited that coach Otzelberger reconfirmed his long term commitment to Iowa State University by deciding not to entertain any outside offers. Coach Otzelberger has led our team to the NCAA Tournament in every one of his first five years and three times has gone to the Sweet 16. No other men’s basketball coach in the history of our program can say that. I also want to congratulate JR Blount for getting the head coaching job at the University of San Diego, and for Kyle Green getting the head coaching job at the University of Northern Iowa. We want to congratulate them and also thank them for their time at Iowa State. I’ve spoken to Coach Otzelberger, and rest assured, he has a great plan for how he’s going to repopulate his staff in order to continue our success in men’s basketball.”
Women’s basketball update:
“I also wanted to provide an update on our women’s basketball program, given the midseason injuries, it’s amazing that we still won 22 games this year and ended up being awarded an eight seed in the NCAA Tournament. Coach Fennelly has led us to the NCAA Tournament in 15 of the last 18 seasons. That’s a standard of success I hope we never, ever take for granted. I know this. There’s many schools in the Big 12 that have tried to replicate that success for years. Unfortunately, though, we have been notified that a significant number of our women’s basketball players will be entering the transfer portal next week. Although disappointing, it’s really an unfortunate byproduct of the state of our industry at this point in time. Rest assured, we aren’t the only school that is going through this. There’s another school in the Big 12 that finished ahead of us in the Big 12 women’s basketball standings that’s down to two players. There’s another school here in the Midwest that hosted a NCAA Tournament game that is likely down to six players. In today’s world, student-athletes transfer for a lot of reasons. Some leave because they are searching more playing time. Some leave because they’re homesick. Some leave because they’re disgruntled. And now some leave because they just want the opportunity to maximize their ability to receive revenue from the school they’re at. Know this, regardless of why a student-athlete leaves Iowa State, we’ll always wish them well and thank them for their time as a Cyclone.”
What does this mean for women’s basketball?
“It reminds me of last December with our football program, we were down to 17 players, and I remember saying to all of you, I can’t guarantee you who will be on the team, but I can guarantee you that there will be 100 young men that are going to gladly wear cardinal and gold and play football for the Cyclones. I had the opportunity to attend football practice this week, and although I didn’t know many of the student-athletes running around on the field, I can assure you there was a full allotment of student-athletes that are going to make you proud as Cyclones. The women’s basketball transfer portal opens up on April 6, and it will be open until April 20. I’m confident that given our great crowds, our history and our coaching staff, that we will have no shortage of student-athletes that want to transfer to Iowa State. And know this, our coaches will have more than enough revenue share dollars to be able to attract some of the best student-athletes possible.”
What does this mean for Bill Fennelly?
“The easy answer would be, coach, why are you putting yourself through this? Why don’t you just stop? Why don’t you just retire? One of the many traits I really appreciate about Coach Fennelly is his resiliency.
There’s a quote. ‘It’s not what happens to you, but it’s how you respond to what happens to you.’
Coach Fennelly has shown time after time that he can live that quote. Coach Fennelly, wants to be able to finish what he started, and to finish it the right way. He has been loyal to our program for the last 31 years. He could have entered the transfer portal at any time during that time period, and he chose to stay at Iowa State to the point he’s now the all time winningest coach in the history of Iowa State, and also the all time winningest coach in the history of the Big 12. We love winning at Iowa State, and we’ve been blessed to have won a lot of women’s basketball games. However, I continually hear from our donors, from our ticket holders and our fans, that although winning is important and winning is fun, it’s how we win and how we treat people that really matters. That’s why we’ve chosen to continue to support coach Fennelly’s desire to finish what he started the right way.
His loyalty and his success has earned him the opportunity to finish his career the right way. I encourage our fans, despite any disappointment any of us have over the transfer portal, to continue to show our support and our love for our women’s basketball program, for our coaching staff and for any student-athletes that are continue to wear the cardinal and gold in the future. In closing, I would simply want to say again, thank you for your continued support. Your loyalty and continued support of our program is a huge reason we’ve been able to have the success we have. Thank you for your time and go Cyclones.”
