AMES — Iowa State men’s basketball is still months away from naming a starting five, but it appears the Cyclones’ backcourt will be in good shape in the post-Tamin Lipsey era.
Between a “Bully,” an expressive and tenacious Frenchman, and a guard with a penchant for sinking big shots, head coach T.J. Otzelberger will have multiple options and pieces to build a formidable backcourt.
Killyan Toure is a lock to reclaim a starting spot and embrace a larger role as the lead guard following Lipsey’s graduation. Alongside Toure, the Cyclones can go in several directions. Perhaps Bradley transfer Jaquan “Bully” Johnson gets the starting nod alongside Toure. Jamarion Batemon also will be in contention to start after being a key go-to player as a freshman off the bench last year.
Toure and Johnson can create a menacing defensive backcourt, allowing the Cyclones to continue to have a tandem of strong on-ball defenders and playmakers almost akin to the Lipsey-Toure starting backcourt last season.
“We’ve been fortunate in the past and hopefully that holds true again this year,” Otzelberger said. “When you have multiple point guards on the court at the same time, it frees guys up to make plays. It frees guys up to make catch-and-shoot threes off the ball. It gives you multiple ways you can attack and create advantage. It doesn’t have to just be through one guy or one way of doing things, and then it also allows you in transition to play faster when you have multiple handlers or guys that initiate the offense, so I think that’s the benefit offensively.
“Certainly, defensively, when you have two elite on-ball defenders that compete every possession and take tremendous sense of pride in a job well done defensively, keeping the ball out of the paint, dictating and disrupting, it puts your defense in a great spot where you’re not in rotation as well. I’ve really liked Killyan and Jaquan when they’ve been out there together, some great things have happened for us.”
Toure averaged 8.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game last season. In addition to expanding his offensive game, he has a goal of being the best on-ball defender in college basketball.
Pair him with Johnson, who is listed at 5-foot-11 but has the build of a power-back on the gridiron and plays with great strength and tenacity. Johnson was a standout two-way player at Bradley, averaging 16.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.5 steals per game last season. He was crowned the Missouri Valley Conference defensive player of the year, along with first-team all-conference, All-MVC defensive and most-improved team honors. Johnson racked up 142 steals over his first two seasons of college basketball.
Imagine what opposing guards would think about having to face them? They are well-versed in squaring off in practice regularly, so they could only imagine what that tandem would look like.
“We have a lot of battles,” said Johnson, smiling. “We guard each other mostly every day, so just me being a great defender, him being a great defender, we’re getting better every day on and off the ball.”
Perhaps Toure and Batemon will be starting side-by-side. Last year, they made an immediate impact as freshmen and were trusted with crucial minutes for the Cyclones. Toure started from day one, while Batemon grew more comfortable and confident as the season unfolded.
Lauded for his maturity and work ethic, by the time conference play arrived Batemon became an indispensable player for the Cyclones off the bench. He served as a two-way sparkplug and delivered clutch 3-pointers in crunch time of big games.
He averaged 6.6 points and 1.2 rebounds over 15.5 minutes per game, appearing in all 37 contests last season. He shot 37.0% from beyond the arc, which leads all returning Cyclones entering this season.
“My experience is a lot of times you’re going to have the Curt Jones, or the Milan (Momcilovic), or the Jamarion Batemon, who those are the guys that have the greenest of green lights to hunt at all times,” Otzelberger said. “And you want them seeking those shots out.”
That’s flattering company for Batemon to be in.
This summer, he and Toure have taken individual responsibility in stepping up as vocal leaders and making their presence known in the locker room.
“Just knowing how much star power we lost, it’s a lot to make up,” Batemon said of he and Toure. “We were ready to come in as freshmen, contribute, and now knowing that we got a year under our belt, the work we put in through the offseason, we know we can make up for that load and it’s just been doing that.”
Regardless of who starts or becomes a go-to bench player, expect varying combinations of Toure, Batemon and Johnson at one point or another throughout the 2026-27 season.
And that’s not to discount other backcourt newcomers who will also play a role this season.
Northern Iowa transfer Leon Bond III is an athletic, versatile wing that can line up at guard or small-ball forward. Don’t be surprised if you see him in the backcourt for some of the Cyclones’ lineups. Another fifth-year senior, Ryan Prather Jr., aims to bolster Iowa State’s perimeter presence. He averaged 15.7 points per game and shot 36.8% from deep at Robert Morris last season.
Freshman Yusef Gray Jr. is a promising point guard, but he’s coming off a labrum injury that compromised his final season of high school basketball. His future is bright, but maybe he’ll work himself into position for backcourt minutes this season.
Whatever the final lineups or rotation look like come season tip-off in November, Otzelberger has to enjoy the options and offseason competition so far.
It appears the Cyclones’ backcourt will be in good hands.
“Oftentimes, everyone wants to look at what was last year’s team, what’s different, what’s the same and each team — it just comes together in its own way and over its own timeline,” Otzelberger said. “What we work to really establish now is what we believe are the winning habits. Everything needs to look like winning before it can be winning. Just the togetherness, the work habits, the fighting through hard things, the next-play mentality — all those things are going to be really important once you start to compete against other people.”
Eugene Rapay covers Iowa State athletics for the Des Moines Register. Contact Eugene at erapay@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @erapay5.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: What will Iowa State basketball’s backcourt look like in 2026-27?
Reporting by Eugene Rapay, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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By Eugene Rapay, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
