Taj Manning has moved to the Iowa State Cyclones for his last collegiate basketball season after playing for the Kansas State Wildcats for the previous four years.
Kansas State earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament and made it to the Elite Eight during Manning’s first season as a redshirt.
Manning remarked, “That was an incredibly fun season.” “It was a fantastic experience. I’ve told folks that one thing that season accomplished for me was that it provided me my first college experience—going to the Elite Eight—when I was younger.
Manning said that early in his career, the run gave him an unrealistic outlook.
Taj Manning found early success with Kansas State
Manning remarked, “It gave me a false sense of reality.” “I assumed it would be simple to make it to the NCAA Tournament. That seemed obvious to me. I rapidly became aware of how difficult it was and how much effort it truly required.”
Since then, the Wildcats had missed three straight NCAA Tournaments, so Manning decided to use the transfer portal to look for a new opportunity that would fit with his desire to win in his last season.
In an attempt to duplicate the success of his first year with Kansas State, Manning entered the portal with the intention of finding a school with the potential to advance far in the NCAA tournament.
“As a freshman, you occasionally think, ‘Oh, I got time,’ when you first start college. “I have time,” Manning remarked. “And then that past year rapidly catches up with you. You can now sense how urgent it is. It’s crucial to want to end your final year on a high note.
In the end, that urgency brought him to Iowa State. The Cyclones have established themselves as a reliable competitor by participating in three Sweet 16s and five straight NCAA tournaments. The Cyclones, who have been ranked in every AP Top 25 poll since the 2023–24 season and are expected to finish in the preseason top 20, provide Manning with the winning environment he was looking for.
Cyclones recent success was selling point for Taj Manning
They want to make it past the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999–2000, in addition to having previously been successful in getting into the tournament. Manning is also in the top 20 transfer portal class.
In addition to the program’s performance, Manning attributed his decision to his trust in the system and his friendship with T.J. Otzelberger, the head coach of the Cyclones.We have a fantastic relationship, and the system has already shown its worth,” Manning remarked. “I simply believe his vision that he sees in me; it’s already well-established. and simply wanted to be part in something amazing.”
As he approaches his final year of collegiate basketball, Manning hopes to relive the excitement of that first season with the Wildcats.
Manning sees joining the Cyclones as a chance to pursue the kind of success he previously believed would be simple. Now that he has a better idea of what it takes, he is enrolling in a program designed to compete well into March with the same objective in mind: to win.
