Tyrese Hunter merges optimism with execution to fuel Iowa State men’s basketball postseason hopes

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The first time Iowa State star transfer guard Izaiah Brockington met Tyrese Hunter, a few things stood out to him.

One, Hunter — a true freshman point guard — is an elite competitor.

Two, he never shrinks from a challenge.

Three?

“He had this optimism that was just different than all of ours, because he didn't really know,” said Brockington, who will start alongside Hunter in the Cyclones’ Big 12 tournament quartterfinal game Thursday at 8:30 p.m. against No. 14 Texas Tech. “You know, me having been through some grinds of seasons — highs and lows — and then the guys like George (Conditt IV) that had been here through some bad times.

“He was just always ready to go. Whoever was next on the schedule, he was like, ‘All right, cool. They're ranked what? I don't care. Let’s go.’ He definitely kept us together in a lot of times.”

Hunter, the Big 12 freshman of the year, is the only rookie among the league’s top 10 leaders in assists. Five seniors, two juniors and two sophomores join him on that list. Hunter sits third, at five assists per game, and often serves as the bellwether for ISU (20-11) in this resurgent yet mercurial season.

“He has a short-term memory in a good way,” said Cyclones head coach T.J. Otzelberger, who in one season has revived the program he formerly served as an assistant. “When things don’t go his way, he’s able to flip the switch and get things going his way. So when he’s played well, we’ve played well. I don’t think that’s a big secret.

“If you look at our wins in league play, he’s played well and then we have, which would make sense as a point guard, but especially as a freshman point guard. When he commands a game, we’ve got a chance to be really good.”

Hunter has scored in double figures in five of the past six games. The only time he didn’t notch 10 or more points in that span — in the regular season-closing, 75-68, loss at No. 3 Baylor — he dished out a career-high 13 assists.

Hunter simply finds ways to positively impact games, whether in spurts or for 40 minutes.

“I don’t want to go back and regret things and be (like), ‘I should have done this, I should have done that,’” the 6-foot-2 Top 40 recruit from Racine, Wis., said. “So I’m going to go out there and play my best.”

Hunter hasn’t been at his best in the Cyclones’ previous meetings with the Red Raiders (23-8) this season.

He was a combined 4-for-16 from the field in those games, but ISU managed to win the first meeting with disruptive defense. That’s one area Hunter’s been consistently solid. When his shots aren’t falling, or turnovers pile up, he stays sharp on the other end of the floor.

His mantra — “whatever it takes” — has propelled the Cyclones to the cusp of their first NCAA tournament berth in three years. After a 2-22 season in 2020-21, ISU will be back in the “big dance” — and most outside observers would have considered the mere thought of such a rapid turnaround irrationally optimistic.

Hunter believed.

“This is something I envisioned right here,” said Hunter, who boasts a 26-to-7 assist-to-turnover ratio in his past three games. “I just knew what we can do as long as we put in the work, stay true to each other, just build the bonds.”

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