By Kirk Haaland, CycloneFanatic.com Contributor
I love the end-of-year lists. For one thing, lists in general suit my fancy and for another it helps to remind me of everything that happened way back when…like in January, February, and March. So here is the Cyclone year in headlines. Some things you have probably forgotten, some you probably wish you could, and some that you’ll remember forever.
January
- January 3rd– In a double OT thriller at Hilton the men’s basketball managed to outlast a pesky Houston squad 82-75.
- January 3rd– Jake Varner scored a pin for the wrestlers en route to a victory for the No. 2 Cyclones over the No. 6 Golden Gophers 19-16.
- January 8th– LA Pomlee is dismissed from the basketball team.
- January 10th– The wrestlers finish second at National Duals in Cedar Falls to…Iowa.
- January 13th– The Cyclone men’s basketball team opened conference play with No. 1 ranked Texas losing in an inspired performance by score of 90-83 giving all of us some reason for hope.
- January 16th– Alison Lacey scores 18 straight points to lead the women to a road win at Colorado.
- January 19th– After sitting out a year and only playing for a season and a half, Lucca Staiger opts to go back to Germany to play for pay three days after a road win in Lincoln. Technically, it turned out to be riding the bench for pay, but who’s keeping track?
- January 23rd– The women’s team pulls off a come from behind stunner in Austin to beat Texas 73-71.
- January 24th– Another Jake Varner pin seals a meet for the Cyclones in a 20-18 win over Oklahoma State.
- January 27th– The Twister Sisters finally get a long overdue victory against the Sooners, 63-56.
- January 30th– The ISU men hang on to beat Colorado at home in a goofy, quirky game, 64-63.
- January 31st– The wrestlers get another huge dual win, this time at Cornell, 24-13.
February
- February 4th– Paul Rhoads and the Cyclone football program sign 28 recruits in the 2010 recruiting class.
- February 7th– The Cyclone wrestling program becomes the first to win 1,000 duals in its history by beating Arizona State 30-10.
- February 14th– In a “pink out” the women’s basketball team routs Baylor at home with a three-point barrage, 69-45.
- February 18th– Bobby Elliot makes his return to Ames as the new secondary coach after Chris Ash left for Wisconsin.
March
- March 6th– The ISU wrestlers get edged out for the Big 12 title but Jake Varner and Dave Zabriskie win individual championships.
- March 6th– The Twister Sisters beat the Buffaloes at home to claim sole possession of second place in the Big 12.
- March 7th– Greg McDermott finally earns a signature win and a win over a ranked opponent by beating No. 5 Kansas State in Manhattan in overtime.
- March 12th– After being ousted in the first round of the Big 12 tournament, McDermott confirms that Craig Brackins is headed to the NBA, Marquis Gilstrap had his waiver denied, and both Justin Hamilton and Dominique Buckley will be leaving Iowa State.
- March 15th– Greg McDermott makes alterations to his coaching staff; Ron Smith left for a new gig and Jeff Rutter was moved to “Director of Basketball Operations.”
- March 21st– Three Cyclone wrestlers advance to the finals of Nationals—Andrew Long, Jake Varner, and Dave Zabriskie. Both Zabriskie and Varner would go on to win national titles while Long lost a heart-stopper to Matt McDonough of Iowa. The Cyclones finished third in the team race.
- March 21st– The Twister Sisters open up first round play of the NCAA tournament with a 79-42 blowout of Lehigh in Hilton.
- March 23rd– The Cyclone women manage to scrap and claw to a victory in a close one over Wisconsin-Green Bay 60-56. The win made it back-to-back Sweet Sixteen trips for the program.
- March 28th– The ISU women became another victim in the long line of consecutive notches on Connecticut’s belt, losing 74-36 to end the season.
- March 31st– Alison Lacey was named AP All-America Honorable Mention.
April
- April 6th– Whitney Williams leaves the women’s basketball team.
- April 8th– The women’s basketball team finishes out the year ranked 13thin the AP poll.
- April 8th– Alison Lacey becomes the first Cyclone drafted in the first round of the WNBA, going to the Seattle Storm with the 10th pick.
- April 9th– Men’s basketball assistant coach Daniyal Robinson leaves the program to go to the University of Houston.
- April 13th– Justin Hamilton finally finds a school “closer to home (Utah)” and packs his bags for the bayou and LSU.
- April 22nd– Nick Nurse and Jeff Grayer are hired on as new assistant coaches under Greg McDermott.
- April 23rd– Andrew Long is suspended for 10 percent of the upcoming season after another alcohol related arrest.
- April 24th– Reggie Stephens is drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals with the 21stpick of the 7thround.
- April 26th– Somehow through another “Cyclone God” divine intervention Greg McDermott becomes the new head coach for the Creighton Bluejays.
- April 27th– Before Greg McDermott can even be introduced as the head coach, the news breaks that ISU has found their new man. Of course, it is the Mayor…everyone saw that one coming…right?
- April 27th– Kevin Jackson is named Rookie Coach of the Year by Amateur Wrestling News magazine.
- April 29th– Eric McKnight signs on with the ISU men’s basketball program.
- April 30th– Nick Nurse officially returns to the Iowa Energy.
May
- May 3rd– After legal issues, Charles Boozer opts to leave Iowa State.
- May 5th– Calvin Godfrey signs his LOI to join the Cyclone basketball team.
- May 6th– Dave Zabriskie takes part in pre-season mini-camp with the Cleveland Browns.
- May 19th– Penn State’s Chris Babb officially transfers to the Cyclone basketball team.
- May 19th– Scott Haughton is dismissed from the ISU football team for reasons still unknown for certain.
- May 21st– Jake Anderson officially transfers to play for the Cyclones from Northern Illinois – thank you Ricardo Patton, the gift that keeps on giving.
- May 25th– The roller coaster ride that is LaRon Dendy officially leaves Ames.
June
There is no way that every conference re-alignment plot and sub-plot could be addressed here, but I’ll touch on the official big stuff.
- June 10th– Colorado officially leaves the Big 12 and heads to the Pac 10.
- June 11th– Nebraska officially joins the Big 10 conference.
- June 14th– Texas officially stays in the Big 12 with the rest of the Big 12 south, although unrest would continue.
- June 17th– Hoiberg hauls perhaps his best recruit so far in bringing the experienced Bobby Lutz to town as an assistant coach.
- June 17th– Another transfer heads to Ames and the men’s basketball program, this time it is Anthony Booker from Southern Illinois.
- June 23rd– Andrew Long is kicked off of the Cyclone wrestling team.
- June 25th– Craig Brackins is selected with the 21stpick by the Oklahoma City Thunder before being traded to the New Orleans Hornets and then traded again to the Philadelphia 76ers.
- June 30th– Chris Bono leaves the ISU wrestling program.
July
- July 8th– Iowa State University student-athletes rate seventh nationally in graduation rate.
- July 12th– Yet another transfer joins the ISU men’s basketball team, Royce White.
August
- August 8th– Lisa Koll and Jake Varner are named Iowa State female and male athletes of the year.
- August 11th– Hilton floods. Jacobson, Bergstrom, and Jack Trice escape. It truly is amazing how much I have forgotten about this in just three months. I’ve been to Hilton countless times since it’s re-opening and I should still be marveling at the fact it was ready for use in time for the basketball season.
- August 20th– Lefty Moore returns to the Iowa State men’s basketball program as a grad assistant.
- August 20th– Another transfer joins the men’s basketball program; Chris Allen leaves Michigan State to come to Ames and wait to play out his final year of eligibility.
- August 24th– Jeff Grayer officially heads back to Michigan after his hiring on as an assistant coach under McDermott was scrapped when McDermott left and Hoiberg was put in charge.
September
- September 2nd– Elwyn McRoy fills out the men’s basketball assistant coaching staff.
- September 2nd– The football team kicks off the season with a 27-10 victory over Northern Illinois.
- September 11th– Iowa routs ISU on the football field for the second consecutive year.
- September 18th– Iowa State loses a toughie in Arrowhead for the second year in a row to Kansas State.
- September 25th– With Arnaud sitting out due to a shoulder injury the Cyclone defense leads the way to a 27-0 shutout victory over UNI.
October
- October 1st– Eric Voelker is named the new assistant coach for the wrestling team.
- October 2nd– In perhaps the most exciting game in recent memory at Jack Trice the football team tops Texas Tech 52-38.
- October 9th– Utah lays a 68-27 whoopin’ on the Cyclones in Ames.
- October 12th– Kelsey Bolte is named pre-season first team All-Big 12.
- October 16th– Oklahoma follows up on that whoopin’ of the Cyclones with one of their own in Norman, 52-0.
- October 23rd– The Cyclones beat Texas 28-21 for their first ever win over Texas and Paul Rhoads’ first win at ISU over a ranked team. Of course, Texas wouldn’t see much more of the polls for the rest of the season.
- October 27th– The new floor at Hilton is installed.
- Ocotber 30th– The Cyclones methodically beat Kansas after a slow start, 28-16.
November
- November 6th– Iowa State loses what will likely be its final regular season game ever against the Nebraska Cornhuskers in overtime, 31-30. I don’t think much reminder is necessary. Ugh.
- November 8th– Royce White’s eligibility waiver is denied by the NCAA. The subsequent appeal is also denied two weeks later.
- November 10th– Hoiberg signs his first recruiting class as head coach—Tyrus McGee, Tavon Sledge, Elgin Cook, and Anthony Odunsi.
- November 12th– Fred Hoiberg wins his debut in a victory over Northern Arizona, 78-64.
- November 13th– The Cyclones lose in Boulder—likely for the final time—34-14.
- November 15th– The Twister Sisters beat Drake 64-46 in the process of notching Bill Fennelly’s 500thcareer win.
- November 17th– It is officially announced that Austen Arnaud needs knee reconstruction and his career for the Cyclones is over, before senior day.
- November 17th– The men’s basketball team obliterates Drake 91-43. Led by Scott Christopherson’s perfect performance; 11-11 FG, 5-5 3FG, and 2-2 FT.
- November 20th– Iowa State fails to reach bowl eligibility in a home loss to Missouri, 14-0, to end the season with a record of 5-7 (3-5).
- November 21st– Jamie Vanderbeken beats the clock…sort of, in a win over Creigton and the McDermotts at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
- November 30th– Four Cyclones are named second team All-Big 12—Collin Franklin, Ben LaMaak, Leonard Johnson, and Jake Knott.
December
- December 3rd– Kirby Van Der Kamp is named to the AP All-Big 12 team as a punter and is the only freshman to achieve that feat.
- December 3rd– The Cyclone wrestlers lose in Iowa City 22-13.
- December 10th– Scott Christopherson goes off for the second time this year to pave the way to a victory over the Hawkeyes in Iowa City notching 30 points and making 7-12 shots from the three point line. Bonus points earned for Scott by riling up the Iowa fan base with his “throat slash” gesture which was much closer to being a “too legit to quit” gesture.
- December 15th– Paul Rhoads signs two junior college players to arrive for the spring semester in quarterback Steele Jantz and offensive lineman Samuel Tautolo.
- December 19th– Diante Garrett becomes the 28thmember of the 1,000 point club in a win over Dartmouth, 71-42.
Congratulations if you made it through 2010 for the second time. Happy New Year!
