Iowa State star Addy Brown's getting healthier, but she won't play Sunday against Kansas State

AMES — For almost 40 days, all Iowa State star guard/forward Addy Brown could do was clutch a notebook and serve as an extra coach.

Until recently.

Cyclone head women's basketball coach Bill Fennelly said Friday that Brown has finally been cleared to resume some basketball activities. She won't play Sunday at 1 p.m. when Kansas State (14-12, 7-6) faces his team (19-6, 7-6) at Hilton Coliseum, but there's now clear and well-founded hope that she can return at some point this season after being sidelined since the Jan. 4 home loss to Baylor because of a lower-body injury.

"She's starting to work out," Fennelly said of Brown, who’s averaging a team-high nine rebounds per game. "She actually had an individual workout, so we're getting there. She won't play Sunday. That's for sure. But we're getting there, and I would be more surprised if she didn't play by the end of the year than I was maybe a couple weeks ago.”

So that’s a stay tuned situation for the Cyclones, who seek to shake off the effects of an 83-69 loss Tuesday at BYU that ended a five-game winning streak. ISU will try to get back on the winning track against a Wildcats team that beat the Cougars by 25 points recently and has won three of its past four games.

“They pounded BYU and beat Oklahoma State in their last two games,” Fennelly said. “It’s the first time we’ve seen them, (but) we’re gonna see them twice in five games, so something different.”

It’s also very different in the best possible way that Fennelly can provide an update of any sort regarding Brown’s injury.

Brown’s also averaging 13.1 points and 5.8 assists, and recorded her first career triple-double earlier this season. Her versatility and playmaking ability’s been sorely missed, so if and when she can return, it will be a big boost for the Cyclones.

"Progress has been really, really good," Fennelly said. "Steady, slow. We're trying to be really, really, really, really, really smart. But she's out there trying to do stuff.”

But she’ll have to keep noting her thoughts in that notebook until her return to the practice court translates into being game ready.

“(There’s) the mental part where you don’t really feel like you’re on the team,” Fennelly said. “But she’s handled that really well. She was smiling the other day for the first time in a long time, so hopefully that’s a good sign.”

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