A few moments after Iowa State obtained a seeded n ° 3 in the 2025 NCAA tournament on Sunday evening, the cyclone coach TJ Otzelberger in a press conference announced an astonishing new that the senior goalkeeper Keshon Gilbert, the second scorer of the team and leader in assistance and minutes, will not be available for the big dance.
Gilbert collected an average of 13.4 points and 4.1 assist per match in 29 games this season for cyclones.
“We decided that he had to focus on his rehabilitation and recover his body, so he will not be available as we advance,” said Otzelberger.
Otzelberger added that the injured playmaker Tamin Lipsey “progresses well” but did not develop more on his injury status.
Lipsey and Gilbert missed the quarter-finals of the Big 12 of the tournament against Byu in a defeat of 96-92. Lipsey drink from the ground at the end of the previous match against Cincinnati with a groin injury. Gilbert was faced with an injury below the lower body he described during the Big 12 tournament also as a groin injury.
The Iowa State is entering the NCAA tournament with a global file of 24-9 after spending the whole week except a season classified in the top 10 of the AP survey. He went up to 2nd row in the week 11 ranking after starting season 15-1.
Gilbert was a key element of this success with 29 appearances in 34 games, in which he has an average of 31.6 minutes per game. He finished 18th in the Big 12 this season in points per game, 11th in the Big 12 in assists per game and 14th among the players of the Big 12 in minutes per game.
Communication between teams and the selection committee concerning injuries is not uncommon – both in terms of transparency and its absence. The main vice-president of NCAA basketball, Dan Gavitt, said this weekend that he was in communication with Duke concerning the status of the first year Cooper Flagg, who relayed that he was expecting what he returns by the NCAA tournament.
The Arkansas also made it public this weekend before the support reveals that the first year of the first year Boogie Fand has been released and will be available for Mars madness.
Injuries can help or harm the teams according to how the selection committee considers each individual situation, as evidenced by its decision to omit Virginia-Western from the 68 team field on Sunday. The vice-president of the committee, Bubba Cunningham, told CBS that the exclusion of WVU had been made because Star Tucker Devries, which is injured and has not played since December, would not be available.
