Iowa State’s Tamin Lipsey named to player of the year watch list

Junior placed on NABC National Player of the Year Preseason Watch List

Coming off a strong season, Iowa State junior Tamin Lipsey has been named to the NABC National Player of the Year Preseason watch list. / Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Tamin Lipsey signed with Iowa State men’s basketball as one of the top prospects in the country. The Ames native opted to stay home, and his decision is paying off in a big way.

Lipsey, a junior point guard, was named to the NABC National Player of the Year Preseason watch list. He is one of five Big 12 players named to the 20-player list, as he was also placed on the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year watch list and the Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Player of the Year watch list.

Last year, Lipsey was an Associated Press honorable mention All-American selection and finalist for the Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year award. He was also a finalist for both the Lefty Driesell Defensive Player of the Year and Lute Olson National Player of the Year awards.

Lipsey posted 12.4 points, almost five assists, over four rebounds and nearly three steals per game as a sophomore for the Cyclones, helping them to a 29-7 record. Iowa State reached the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament, falling to Illinois.

His numbers made history, as he was one of the just 17 to average those in a season and the first in the Big 12 to do so since 1996-97. Lipsey set a school-record with 34 straight games recording at least one steal, and he has at least one steal in 66 of 69 games played.

Lipsey started all 33 games as a freshman after leading Ames High School to the Class 4A state title his senior year. He won a gold medal with USA Basketball at the 2019 FIBA Americas U16 Championship, recovering from missing his sophomore season due to an injury.

He became the first Iowa State player to garner All-American status since 2019 when Marial Shayok was named. Lipsey is the first AP All-American since 2016 when Georges Niang was named to the list. 

Joining Lipsey on the NABC preseason list from the Big 12 are L.J. Cryer of Houston, Hunter Dickinson from Kansas and Norchad Omier of Baylor. Some of the others selected include RJ Davis from North Carolina, freshman Cooper Flagg of Duke, Gonzaga’s Graham Ike, Alex Karaban from defending national champion Connecticut and Mark Sears of Alabama.

The winner will be announced the week of the 2025 Final Four. Zach Edey of Purdue won the past two awards and is now in the NBA.