Big 12 Basketball: 10 questions looming for the 2021-22 season

Apr 3, 2021; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Baylor Bears head coach Scott Drew talks with guard Jared Butler (12) and guard Davion Mitchell (45) and forward Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua (23) and guard Mark Vital (11) during the first half against the Houston Cougars in the national semifinals of the Final Four of the 2021 NCAA Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

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TJ Otzelberger Big 12 Basketball Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports /

8. Will the Iowa State “homecoming” be a good one for TJ Otzelberger?

TJ Otzelberger made his return to the Iowa State sidelines as head coach this past March. He’ll have work to do after the Cyclones went 2-22 on the year and 0-18 in Big 12 play in 2020-21 under head coach Steve Prohm.

Otzelberger marks the first of three new faces in the Big 12 basketball head coaching ranks. The Iowa State job marks the third stop in Ames for him, though it will be his first as head coach of the program. He served under two positions across eight seasons before taking his first head coaching job with South Dakota State.

He spent the past two seasons leading the UNLV Running Rebels to a 29-30 (.492) record in his second stop as a head coach. Before that, he saw success as head coach in the Summit League at South Dakota State from 2016-19. He amassed a 70-33 (.680) record while making two appearances in the NCAA Tournament and winning two regular-season conference and conference tournament titles.

While he has had his fair share of experience since leaving the program in 2016, a lot of things have changed for Otzelberger. He’s found some success in the transfer portal since taking over adding Tristan Enaruna (Kansas) and Izaiah Brockington (Penn State) to the fold. He’s got some pieces to work with in 2021-22, now he’ll just need to get the Cyclones out the Big 12 basement.

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