Iowa State Freshman Continues Impressive Stretch Against Syracuse

Iowa State has been one of the best teams in college basketball so far this season.

After a solid campaign in 2024-25, the Cyclones appear to be poised for another strong year with multiple veteran pieces returning to the team. Alongside key players like Joshua Jefferson, Nate Heise, Milan Momcilovich and Tamin Lipsey, TJ Otzelberger's team also added a star freshman from the high school ranks.

So far, that recipe has led the Cyclones to a 7-0 record, including multiple wins in the Players Era Festival, a big-time event that featured a number of the nation's top teams. ISU had to win a few of those games, however, with Lipsey.

The veteran guard suffered a lower body injury that held him out of the team's matchups with Creighton and Syracuse, but Iowa State still managed to finish off the tournament with two solid wins. In those contests, freshman guard Killyan Toure stepped up for the Cyclones, notching a pair of impressive outings to cap off the event.

Against Creighton, Toure tallied 20 points, 4 rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block while shooting 8-of-14 from the field and 1-of-3 from beyond the arc. Toure followed that performance with 19 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds and 3 steals against Syracuse, shooting 7-of-9 from the field and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.

Listed at 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds, the talented freshman is originally from France, but played for Brewster Academy in New Hampshire before his time at Iowa State. Coming out of high school, Toure was rated the No. 130 overall player and No. 21 shooting guard in the nation by 247Sports.

So far, though, the first-year standout has outperformed his recruiting rank, serving as a regular starter for a top-15 team. Through his first 7 college games, Toure is averaging 11.7 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2 steals per game while shooting 58.9% from the field and 37.5% from beyond the arc.

If Toure continues to perform well throughout his freshman season, especially against Big 12 competition, he should have a chance to be selected in the 2026 NBA Draft. Playing against other talented freshman like Darryn Peterson, Kingston Flemings, AJ Dybantsa, Koa Peat and others, scouts should be able to get a glimpse of how Toure performs against other future NBA players.

Toure should also get the opportunity to showcase his skills on the big stage later in the season as the Cyclones attempt to make an NCAA Tournament run.

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