The thump of the basketball, the squeak of sneakers, and the Juicy Wiggle permeate the Hilton Coliseum. The land up north in Ames has been home to two top-15 basketball teams, and Norwalk students share their opinions on the men’s and women’s shared success.
Senior Jackson Overholser has been an Iowa State fan for over a decade. Overholser said both teams’ performance this year was not surprising.
“It’s not shocking considering the coaches we have,” he said. “We have really good coaches, and coming into the season, I knew we had a good team.”
Coming into the season, the men’s team was ranked 18th, and the women’s team was ranked 13th in the AP Poll. Since then, the men’s team has ascended to 9th and the women’s team reached as high as 11th.
Overholser said he hopes they can keep this momentum going into March.
“I’m hoping we can make a run to at least the Elite Eight, hopefully the Final Four,” he said. “The ultimate goal is to win the national championship, and that’s all I really want.”
Junior Carson Silvers is another lifelong Cyclone fan. Silvers said a lot of the success is due to big-time players emerging.
“For the men’s side, Joshua Jefferson is having a great season and playing really well,” he said. “Now on the women’s side, Audi Crooks has been tearing it up; she’s been super efficient, and I don’t know how you stop her.”
According to ESPN Stats, Joshua Jefferson leads the team in RPG at 7.9 per game and is second in scoring with 17.3 PPG. Audi Crooks leads all of D-1 in scoring at 26.9 PPG.
Senior Jacoby Robbins said the talent on both teams has helped their success.
“The men’s squad has arguably three All-Americans in Joshua Jefferson, Milan Momcilovic, and Tamim Lipsey,” he said. “They have a lot of talented players who had the bar raised high before the season even started, which is why I’m not surprised with the performance.
Robbins said there are some similarities between the two teams.
“With the women’s team, I am also not surprised that they are doing as well as they are,” he said. “They also have a great trio in Audi Crooks, Addy Brown, and Jada Williams. I was more surprised when they lost rather than how much they have won.”
Robbins said that he has been content with both teams’ play this year.
“I’ve been happy with both teams’ performances, getting some big wins,” he said. “The men’s team is currently undefeated, and the women, with just one loss is looking great as well.”
