Iowa State freshman guard Killyan Toure is making a name for himself before Big 12 play begins. The 6'3" guard out of Pamiers, France, has turned heads for the Cyclones early this season.
Players Era Festival Becomes the Killyan Toure Show
Coming into the 2025 Players Era Festival, Toure was the second option for Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger. Senior guard Tamin Lipsey has been the leader of this team in recent years.
Lipsey went down with a leg injury at the conclusion of No. 15 Iowa State’s 83-82 victory over No. 14 St John’s.
With Lipsey going down, Toure received an additional ten minutes of playing time in the Cyclones' final two contests of the event.
In those two games, Toure played 31 minutes and scored 19 and 20 points. Toure only had 5 turnovers between the two games as a Cyclone ball handler, sharing the duty with senior guard Nate Heise.
Toure also had six assists in the Cyclones' statement win over Syracuse.
Becoming a Cyclone
Before Iowa State, Toure played high school basketball away from his home country of France. Toure attended Brewster Academy in New Hampshire to start his American basketball career.
Toure’s high school coach did have a connection with Otzelberger, which may have persuaded his decision.
Toure had interest from other Division I programs, including George Mason, Georgetown, Iona, and Providence, but ultimately chose Iowa State. Not much consideration was needed as he committed to ISU less than one week after his official visit.
Why this isn’t Shocking
Toure had been a reliable starter in the Cyclones. In his first four contests, he averaged 9.25 points in 24.25 minutes per game. Not terrible numbers, but also not anything special.
The kicker is field goal percentage. Toure has only been below 50% from the field one time this season. So the increase in minutes allowed the same success to happen on a larger scale.
It is exciting for Cyclone fans that they have an amazing option at the number two guard spot in Toure. He will fit right in between a hopefully healthy Lipsey and sharpshooter Milan Momcilovic.
The Cyclones have an exciting next three contests, hosting Alcorn State, traveling to No. 1 Purdue and hosting Iowa in the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk series.