‘No-ego guy’ Curtis Jones, nation’s top bench scorer, content with ‘sixth starter’ role for Cyclones

By Canadian Press on March 17, 2025.

The best reserve in the country might be a starter for the NCAA Tournament. Iowa State’s Curtis Jones wouldn’t necessarily consider it a promotion.

Jones is the leading scorer in the nation among players who primarily come off the bench. It’s a role he’s embraced since he arrived in Ames before last season.

But with the loss of Keshon Gilbert to a groin injury, it’s possible Jones will be in the starting lineup for the second straight game when the third-seeded Cyclones open the tournament against No. 14 Lipscomb in Milwaukee on Friday. Another option would be to have Nate Heise start and keep Jones in his familiar role.

While most players strive to be in the starting lineup night in and night out, Jones honestly doesn’t care.

“It’s win or go home, so gotta put everything out there, you know,” Jones said, “because we ain’t trying to go home.”

Coach T.J. Otzelberger calls him his “sixth starter.” Jones typically enters games before the first media timeout and ends up playing starter’s minutes.

Jones averages 16.9 points per game off the bench and a team-best 17.1 overall. He was called on to start seven straight games when Milan Momcilovic was out with a midseason injury, and he was in the starting lineup for a Big 12 Tournament quarterfinal against BYU. Jones scored 31 points with seven 3-pointers in the 96-92 loss.

The 6-foot-4 Jones, who can play either guard spot, has been the Cyclones’ leading scorer in 14 of his 32 games. He’s first on the team in 3-pointers (83) and free-throw shooting (84%), second in 3-point accuracy (37.2%) and third in rebounds (4.3 per game) and minutes played per game (30.6).

“He really, really shoots it,” Cincinnati coach Wes Miller said before his team played the Cyclones in February. “He shoots it deep, he shoots it off the bounce. I think it’s fascinating that he’s their highest-efficiency player statistically and he’s coming off the bench.”

Otzelberger said there’s no reason behind Jones’ role other than that he likes the spark Jones gives the offense from off the bench. Jones likes it, too.

“Yeah I come off the bench,” Jones told the Minnesota Star Tribune in January. “But it isn’t like I’m missing much once I get into the game. That’s the starting lineup (Otzelberger) rolls with — and that’s fine. The only real thing is you get your name called before the game.”

Jones was at his best during a two-week stretch in January. He scored 26 points against Texas Tech, had 20 of his 25 in the first half against then-No. 9 Kansas and had a career-high 33 against Arizona State — all wins.

“Curtis Jones is an elite, elite, elite playmaking scoring guard,” Otzelberger said. “And regardless of what another team does, if the ball’s on the move and we’re playing for one another, Curt is going to be successful…. And it’s crazy to just think of letting the game come to you coming off the bench and score 24. But like, he makes it seem like that’s a common thing to do even though nobody else on earth does that.”

Jones had no Division I offers when he was coming out of high school at Cretin-Derham Hall in St. Paul, Minnesota. He went to Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa, and averaged 12 points per game as a full-time starter. From there he went to Buffalo, where he was a bench player his first year and a starter his second.

Jones transferred to Iowa State before last season and found himself back to the bench. He scored in double figures in 18 of the last 20 games in 2023-24, finishing with a 26-point outing in an NCAA regional semifinal loss to Illinois that made him just the third player to score at least that many off the bench in the Sweet 16 since 1989.

“He’s a no-ego guy,” Otzelberger said. “There couldn’t be somebody that’s a better candidate for national sixth man of the year.”

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Eric Olson, The Associated Press