Tamin Lipsey Showing No Ill-Effects of Knee Injury for Iowa State Cyclones

Tamin Lipsey has been playing at a high level in his return from injury for the Iowa State Cyclones.

Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The biggest question for the Iowa State Cyclones coming into the 2025-26 men’s college basketball season was the health of their point guard, Tamin Lipsey.

He suffered a knee injury a little over a month before the regular season was going to start on Nov. 3 against the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights. His timetable to return was right around the date of the opener.

Lipsey didn’t play in either exhibition game, but every update that was provided by him or head coach T.J. Otzelberger was positive. He was on track, doing everything he needed to get himself in a position to play in the regular season.

He hit all the rehab goals he had, getting back into the starting lineup for the season opener. Even more encouraging was that he didn’t seem to have any limitations, making an impact on both ends of the floor, which has become the norm for him in his Cyclones career.

He is showing no ill effects of the injury either, which has really excited Otzelberger following the team’s 2-0 start.

Tamin Lipsey has looked great in return to court

Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“Yeah, it was great. And he's done such a good job with the strengthening. He's worked with Vic (Miller). He looked great in practice. He looked explosive,” the head coach said in response to being asked how Lipsey’s knee responded to playing two games in four nights.

Lipsey was great against Fairleigh Dickinson, recording at least five steals in a game for the sixth time in his career. It didn’t take long for him to do it a seventh time, recording another five steals against the Grambling State Tigers.

He has also scored 28 points with 10 rebounds, 11 assists and only one turnover. The stuffing of the stat sheet has been incredibly encouraging to see and Otzelberger has been impressed by how well Lipsey’s body has responded to games and practice.

Just another night at the Gym for the Kid.#Cyclones | #C5C | @TaminLipsey pic.twitter.com/hoTIZaawgW

— Iowa State Men’s Basketball (@CycloneMBB) November 7, 2025

“Yeah, it was great. And he's done such a good job with the strengthening. He's worked with Vic (Miller). He looked great in practice. He looked explosive,” the head coach added.

Lipsey supposedly took part in only three practices ahead of the regular season getting started. Being as impactful as he has been without much of a ramp-up period speaks volumes to just how hard he worked in his rehab.

Getting these live game reps under his belt was imperative with the difficulty of the schedule ramping up. On Monday, Iowa State will face its first real test of the campaign, facing the Mississippi State Bulldogs of the SEC in a neutral-site game at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.