The Iowa State men's basketball team is moving onto the Round of 32 and head coach T.J. Otzelberger is headed to the bank... sort of.
The Cyclones' head coach, who took over the program in 2021, already earned a nice paycheck after leading the team to a No. 3-seed in the NCAA Tournament following an impressive regular season performance. Now, with the win in the First Round, Otzelberger earned another $50,000 bonus.
At this point in the postseason, Otzelberger has earned a resounding $100,000 in bonuses as Iowa State heads into the Second Round of the Big Dance.
Iowa State demolished the Lipscomb Bisons in their Round of 64 matchup, winning 82-55 and breezing into the second round of the tournament.
"Lipscomb is a tremendous team," Otzelberger said after the matchup. "We had to be at our best in preparation."
This is the fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance that the Cyclones have seen under Otzelberger, reaching the Sweet 16 in both 2022 and 2024. Last season, Iowa State earned a second-place finish in the Big 12. This time around, Otzelberger and the Cyclones finished fifth in the conference.
Over his four seasons as the ISU head coach, Otzelberger has led the team to an incredible 94-44 overall record.
Before taking over at Iowa State, he coached the South Dakota State Jack Rabbits and then the UNLV Rebels. Throughout his coaching career, Otzelberger has won 64.3 percent of his matchups –– winning 68.1 percent of his games with Iowa State.
Also read: ISU Cyclone women bested by Michigan Wolverines in high-scoring First Round matchup
Otzelberger and the No. 3-seed Cyclones will face the winner of sixth-seed Ole Miss versus 11th-seed North Carolina on Sunday, March 23.