Ex-Gopher Gabe Kalscheur found right fit at Iowa State while contributing to Sweet 16 run

A year ago, Gabe Kalscheur seemed the least likely player to enter the transfer portal when the Gophers hired Ben Johnson as their new men's basketball coach.

Kalscheur went to the same high school as Johnson, who also recruited him at DeLaSalle. They had played for the same coach, Dave Thorson, who became an assistant with the Gophers.

That made Kalscheur's decision tougher to leave his home-state program and coaches who believed in him, but he felt the need for a change of scenery.

"It had nothing to do with them," Kalscheur said when entering the transfer portal last spring. "They will always be family."

The 6-4 clutch-shooting, defensive-minded senior guard from Edina found a new family with Iowa State and first-year coach T.J. Otzelberger.

Transferring to Ames, Iowa, meant a fresh start with a rebuilding team, but Kalscheur ended up playing a major role in one of the biggest turnarounds in college hoops history.

The Cyclones went from 2-22 to 22-12 this season. A team predicted unanimously to finish last in the Big 12 will play Friday night against Miami (Fla.) for a spot in the program's first Elite Eight since 2000.

"I never been in this situation before, it's crazy," Kalscheur said after leading Iowa State with 22 points in Sunday's 54-49 win vs. Wisconsin. "I'm super excited not just for myself and not just for my teammates, but for the whole city of Ames."

Last weekend, Kalscheur met a familiar foe in the NCAA tournament second round, facing his former rival Badgers. As a Minnesotan and ex-Gopher, he admitted after the victory that he played with a little more edge because "I never liked Wisconsin."

The Badgers contacted Kalscheur after he entered the portal last April, but he was more intrigued with what Otzelberger was building with the Cyclones.

Six of Iowa State's top seven scorers this season were newcomers, including Penn State transfer and leading scorer Izaiah Brockington and Big 12 freshman of the year Tyrese Hunter.

"I took a chance and definitely succeeded," Kalscheur said. "Met a great group of players and coaches and individuals that I don't take for granted at all."

Similar to his role in his third season at Minnesota, Kalscheur became one of the team's toughest on-ball defenders. He contributed to holding Wisconsin All-American Johnny Davis to 4-for-16 shooting from the field Sunday, including 0-for-7 from three-point range.

But Kalscheur also made 10 of 19 field-goal attempts against the Badgers, matching the total for the rest of Iowa State's team. It was reminiscent of when he led the Gophers with 24 points as a freshman in the NCAA tournament win vs. Louisville in 2019.

"A lot of people don't get to have this chance, so I luckily had it my freshman year," Kalscheur said earlier in the tournament. "Being back [this] year, it's just embracing it all and just letting it all come to me."

Kalscheur's three-point shooting didn't climb to where it was his freshman season with the Gophers, but he still averaged 9.5 points and showed up offensively in big games. He had 30 points in a Nov. 26 win against then-No. 9 Memphis. Other regular-season highs included 22 points vs. Texas and 18 vs. Baylor.

"[Brockington] and [Kalscheur] have led us throughout the course of the season," Otzelberger said. "Those are guys that immediately talked about how hard they will work, how important it is to them to win games and play for pride for Iowa State. That meant a lot to me."

The end of Kalscheur's junior year with the Gophers was tumultuous, as he was sidelined with a broken finger before Richard Pitino was fired last March.

Although playing at Iowa State meant no family and friends in the crowd for every game, Kalscheur still felt at home with Otzelberger's program even before the major turnaround started.

"Just knowing that he had a plan really just sold me," Kalscheur said. "Knowing that we were just going to be a family and a community through all the ups and downs. We definitely did that throughout this season."