Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger talks NCAA Tournament
Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger discusses the Cyclones’ NCAA Tournament opener
OMAHA – Even by the standards of the small world that is college basketball coaching, this week at the CHI Health Center has something of a family reunion feel.
The limbs of Greg McDermott’s coaching tree entwine here at the NCAA Tournament’s first and second rounds with three of his former assistants leading their own programs in the sport’s premier event.
“I’m just thrilled for each and every one of them,” the Creighton coach told the Register as he prepared his own team to take on Akron in the NCAA Tournament in Pittsburgh. “They certainly helped me whether they played for me or coached for me or some of them both.
“They were instrumental to my success, and I’m not surprised to see them have their own success now.”
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McDermott may be the focal point for T.J. Otzelberger (Iowa State), Eric Henderson (South Dakota State) and Darien DeVries (Drake), but the coaching tree quickly turns into something closer to a web, with the threads all meeting this week in the place Creighton and McDermott call home.
Otzelberger worked as an assistant for McDermott during his time with the Cyclones, and Henderson, who played for McDermott at Wayne State, was a graduate assistant. Henderson went on to be an assistant for Otzelberger at South Dakota State, and when Otzelberger left Brookings for UNLV, Henderson was promoted to head coach.
The Cyclones and Jackrabbits meet Thursday in the first round (6:35 p.m.; truTV).
“I’m a pretty lucky dude,” Henderson said Wednesday. “I pinch myself all the time for how much coach McDermott and T.J. have done for me. And now I’m playing where coach McDermott plays every one of his home games, and I get to coach against T.J.
“I mean, really? Life doesn’t get any better than this.”
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It does create a unique professional dynamic, however.
Coaching careers are made and broken by the NCAA Tournament. And in this situation, it could be a friend doing the making or breaking.
If South Dakota State upsets Iowa State, it’s national news that rocks the tournament and opens a world of possibility for Henderson. But it also puts Otzelberger in the unenviable position of being the coach whose No. 2 seed got ousted by a 15.
If Iowa State wins, Otzelberger was the one standing in front of his friend and colleague while keeping his own star rising.
“We’ve talked and texted a few times,” Henderson said. “Once you get the emotions out of it, we’re both competitive dudes. We both want to win.
“The respect is certainly at a high level.”
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Awaiting the winner of that matchup could be Drake, which is helmed by DeVries, a former McDermott assistant at Creighton.
“He is one of those guys that I feel very fortunate to have been able to work for,” DeVries, whose team plays Washington State on Thursday night, said, “and really happy for him and all of their success that he’s had here.”
It’s not just the head coaches that are all part of the same coaching family, though. Looking further down the bench gives one an idea of how much this really is a close-knit pocket of the coaching fraternity.
South Dakota State assistant Bryan Petersen played for McDermott at Iowa State (where he was recruited by Otzelberger), and fellow assistant Rob Klinkefus was on Otzelberger’s staff in Brookings. Jackrabbits staffer Tyler Glidden was a manager at Iowa State under McDermott and later joined his Bluejays staff before heading to South Dakota State.
Iowa State assistant Kyle Green coached for McDermott at Northern Iowa while Cyclone staffer Erik Crawford played for McDermott at UNI and later coached for him at Iowa State and Creighton (before returning to Cedar Falls to work for another McDermott assistant, Ben Jacobson, and alongside Green).
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“It’s wild to have all three of our teams here for the same opening weekend,” Crawford said. “I think it says a lot about the type of people he chooses to bring in to work underneath him, and also some of the stuff those guys learned working for him.
“A lot of coaches have assistants that work for them, but not a lot of them have so many move on to become head coaches.”
It’s certainly a testament to McDermott’s ability to evaluate and develop coaches.
“He’s somebody, as a head coach, he’s not a micromanager or control freak,” Otzelberger said. “He lets you learn and grow, make mistakes. Gives you responsibility. That’s what I always appreciated working for Greg, just having that ability to learn and to be hands-on.”
While respect and admiration are a constant, like any family, so is the ribbing.
“Greg is getting up there in age,” Otzelberger said, “and he’s had a lot of great assistant coaches over the time.
“It’s a testament to how old he is, and the fact that he’s hired great assistant coaches.”
Travis Hines covers Iowa State University sports for the Des Moines Register and Ames Tribune. Contact him at thines@amestrib.com or (515) 284-8000. Follow him on X at @TravisHines21.