AMES, Iowa – Former Cyclone Keshon Gilbert has signed with the Washington Wizards as an undrafted free agent. Gilbert will begin his journey with the Wizards in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, being held July 10-20.

Hampered by injuries down the stretch, Gilbert missed six games with multiple injuries, including the final three games of the season. Gilbert was twice named a Big 12 player of the week last season, as he averaged 13.4 points, 4.1 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game. He scored in double figures 20 times, including four games with 20 or more points. He scored a season-high 24 points against Dayton in the Maui Invitational and against No. 5 Marquette. Both performances came after a 23-point performance against No. 4 Auburn in the opening round of the Maui Invitational.

In 66 games at Iowa State, Gilbert averaged 13.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.9 steals per game. Gilbert was a two-time All-Big 12 selection and was the 2024 Big 12 Championship MVP.

AMES, Iowa – Former Iowa State All-American Curtis Jones has signed with the Denver Nuggets as an undrafted free agent. The Nuggets did not have any picks in the 2025 NBA Draft.

Jones will begin his journey with the Nuggets in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, being held July 10-20.

The 30^th All-American in school history, Jones earned honorable mention honors from the Associated Press this past season. Jones was also named the Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year and an All-Big 12 First Team selection, the first player in league history to earn both in the same season. Jones led the Cyclones in scoring with 17.4 points per game, while connecting on 88 3-pointers this season.

Jones, the best Sixth Man in America, came off the bench in 25 games this season. He averaged 17.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.0 steals per game off the bench. His 17.2 points per game off the bench this season are the most in the country for anyone coming off the bench, while he is one of just five players since 1996-97 to average 17 or more points off the bench in a season.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Former University of Iowa men’s basketball forward Payton Sandfort has agreed to a deal with NBA Champion Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Waukee, Iowa, native averaged 16.7 points and six rebounds en route to being named an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection as a senior.  He scored in double figures in 27 games, which included a team-high 14 20-point contests.

Sandfort made a team-high 84 3-point field goals, including a career-high eight in his final collegiate game against Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament, tying a tournament record.  He matched a career-high with 30 points in the contest.

Sandfort, who also was the recipient of the prestigious Chris Street Award for the 2024-25 season, finished his career ranking first in free throw percentage (.896), second in 3-point field goals (271) and 11th in scoring (1,619).

Hawkeye Ten Conference 

• Red Oak – 4 vs Atlantic – 2 (9 inn)
• Glenwood – 9 vs Shenandoah – 8 (9 inn)

Corner Conference Tournament 

• Stanton – 12 vs Sidney – 6
• East Mills – 4 vs Stanton – 3
• Fremont-Mills – 18 vs Griswold – 11
• Bedford – 14 vs Fremont-Mills – 0

Western Iowa Conference 

• Tri-Center – 16 vs AHSTW – 3
• Tri-Center – 9 vs AHSTW – 2
• IKM-Manning – 7 vs Riverside – 3
• Logan-Magnolia – 13 vs Missouri Valley – 1
• Underwood – 5 vs Treynor – 0

Missouri River Conference 

• Thomas Jefferson – 3 vs Abraham Lincoln – 2
• Thomas Jefferson – 7 vs Abraham Lincoln – 6
• Sergeant Bluff-Luton – 5 vs Bishop Heelan Catholic – 4
• Bishop Heelan Catholic – 2 vs Sergeant Bluff-Luton – 0
• Sioux City East – 14 vs Le Mars – 4
• Sioux City East – 13 vs Le Mars – 0

Hawkeye Ten Conference

• Atlantic – 12 vs Red Oak – 0
• Atlantic – 21 vs Red Oak – 1
• Glenwood – 3 vs Shenandoah – 2

Corner Conference Tournament 

• Fremont-Mills – 13 vs East Mills – 0 
• Fremont-Mills – 5 vs Bedford – 4
• Stanton – 18 vs Sidney – 8 
• Griswold-CAM – 13 vs Stanton – 3 

Western Iowa Conference 

• Riverside – 15 vs IKM-Manning – 4
• AHSTW – 15 vs Tri-Center – 5
• Missouri Valley – 10 vs Logan-Magnolia – 0 

Pride of Iowa Conference

• Wayne – 5 vs Martensdale-St. Marys – 0 

Missouri River Conference 

• Thomas Jefferson – 10 vs Abraham Lincoln – 7
• Thomas Jefferson – 7 vs Abraham Lincoln – 0
• Sergeant Bluff-Luton – 5 vs Bishop Heelan Catholic – 4
• Sergeant Bluff-Luton – 6 vs Bishop Heelan Catholic – 3
• Sioux City North – 8 vs Sioux City West – 1 
• Sioux City North – 9 vs Sioux City West – 8 
• Le Mars – 7 vs Sioux City East – 3
• Le Mars – 7 vs Sioux City East – 5 

The Griswold/CAM Softball team defeated the Stanton Viqueens 13-3 in four innings in Sidney Thursday night to advance to the Corner Conference Championship game. Griswold/CAM cashed in ten of their 13 runs in the final two innings of the game. The 19-4 Griswold/CAM Tigers scored their thirteen runs on nine hits and four Stanton defensive miscues.

Griswold/CAM began their day at the plate reaching on an outfield error, followed by a walk. Freshman Ailey Wahlert stepped in and delivered a two-run double to put Griswold/CAM ahead 2-0. Wahlert scored the third run in the inning on a defensive error.

In the second, Stanton’s Brea Mitchell roped a double to deep center and was brought in off a Kiela Franzen base hit to right center. After the second, Griswold/CAM had a 3-1 run lead. Despite the scoreless inning, Head Coach Jody Rossell complimented the team’s effort.

Later on in the third, Stanton fed off two Griswold/CAM errors. The 1-2 punch of Quinn McDonald and Lily Ford came around to score to tie the game at three heading into the bottom of the third.

Griswold/CAM put their foot down and broke out for six runs on five hits, highlighted by a two-RBI double by Courtney Follmon. All of a sudden, a 9-3 ballgame in Sidney.

Griswold/CAM starting pitcher, Sadie Gohlinghorst put up a zero in the fourth in the circle including her fifth and final strikeout to retire the side.

In the bottom half of the fourth, Abby Gohlinghorst drew a leadoff walk and was driven in by Follman on a base hit for third RBI of the day. After that, back-to-back base hits ended the game in a four-inning mercy rule in a 13-3 final score.

Griswold/CAM improves to 19-4 on the season and solidifies their spot in the Corner Conference Championship Game Friday night.

Northern Iowa football coach Todd Stepsis says the depth at defensive line has improved since the start of summer workouts. That was an area of concern during spring drills as Stepsis gets ready for his first season as Panther coach.

Stepsis says depth is crucial, especially with all the no huddle and quick tempo offenses you see in college football.

Stepsis believes the Panthers will have enough depth up front to handle a demanding schedule.

The Panthers were 3-9 in the final season under long-time coach Mark Farley. They open August 30th at home against Butler.

The competition for playing time will be fierce for the Iowa Hawkeye women next season. A talented group of newcomers join six players who saw significant action a year ago for a team that finished 23-11 and made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In the era of the transfer portal Iowa’s roster has remained very stable.

That’s Iowa coach Jan Jensen who says the Hawkeyes have a lot of flexibility with the current roster.

Summer workouts are underway in Iowa City

AMES, Iowa – Learfield’s Cyclone Sports Properties, in partnership with Iowa State Athletics and Learfield Impact, Learfield’s industry-leading Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) service combining the power of expert people, award-winning content, and innovative technology, has announced the appointment of Brent Blum as the new Director of NIL Development, Jake Lovell as NIL Partnerships and Operations Coordinator and MaryKate Walling as NIL Content Producer.

“We are excited to launch this innovative initiative with Learfield as we navigate this new world intercollegiate athletics enters starting July 1,” ISU Director of Athletics Jamie Pollard said. “We believe that these positions are a continued evolution of our long-standing partnership and allow us to create additional opportunities through existing and new corporate partners.”

Learfield Impact integrates the addition of these three on-campus NIL leadership positions, innovative technology in the form of Learfield’s Compass NIL dealmaking platform, and the Emmy Award-winning Learfield Studios content team into an unmatched full-service NIL offering. This powerful combination seamlessly generates authentic dealmaking and creates opportunities for influential storytelling content between student-athletes and brand partners.

In this newly created role, Blum will help oversee the university’s evolving NIL strategy, working closely with student-athletes, coaches and donors, as well as the Iowa State Foundation and corporate partners to build innovative and sustainable support. His work will focus on aligning the athletic department’s NIL vision with national best practices while staying true to the culture and values of Iowa State.

Blum currently serves as Executive Director of the We Will Collective, where he has helped raise over $12 million in support of Iowa State student-athletes, backed by contributions from more than 10,000 individual donors and area businesses.

“Cyclone Nation’s involvement is as important as ever as we tackle this transition in college athletics,” Blum said. “This next chapter gives us the opportunity to build a more unified and long-term NIL infrastructure for Iowa State. In the short term, continued support of We Will is vital as we move forward.”

Lovell, who has been a member of the CSP staff for three years, will assist Blum in fulfilling NIL sponsorships and Walling, who received both her undergraduate and master’s degrees from Iowa State while working as a content producer for the Cyclone Football program, will produce NIL-related content for CSP sponsors.

With the House settlement approved by Judge Claudia Wilken earlier this month, the Iowa State Athletics Department will now provide direct financial support to Cyclone student-athletes on top of the world-class education and other benefits that they currently receive. Nearly every Cyclone student-athlete will receive a financial payment from the University for their NIL rights beginning on July 1.

Iowa State Athletics will provide the maximum revenue-sharing amount allowed, currently projected to be $20.5M for the 2025-26 fiscal year, by the House settlement to its student-athletes. The We Will Collective will begin transitioning its members to the We Will Fund that will be housed within the ISU Foundation next month. Contributions to the We Will Fund will allow donors to invest in the support of student-athletes while helping ISU ensure future success of its championship-caliber programs.

“The Iowa State fan base has long-been recognized as one of the nation’s most-loyal, and their continued generous support of the We Will Fund will be critical as we move into college athletics’ new era,” Pollard said. “We are grateful for all of our fans who have contributed to the We Will Collective over the last few years and it is our sincere hope they continue that support as we transition to the We Will Fund to ensure that our programs are positioned for greater success in this new era.”