Curtis Jones had no NCAA scholarship offers out of high school in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Not Division I. Not Division II.
He only had a junior college chance at Indian Hills (Iowa) Community College. He improved enough to land at Buffalo.
Then Iowa State.
“I didn’t pass the eye test,” Jones told CBS Sports recently.
That is no longer true.
Jones has become the lynchpin for a deep, talented Iowa State team that continues to pass nearly every test this season.
The Cyclones have an elite defense. Perhaps their offense is even better.
And then there’s Jones, their do-it-all sixth man.
He started in Iowa State’s massive win over Kansas, scoring 20 of his 25 points in the first half. He had six rebounds and two steals.
“They had a player play like a first-team All-American,” Kansas coach Bill Self said of Jones, “and he’s terrific.”
Let’s get to this week’s power rankings.
Iowa State basketball: Cyclones fend off Kansas in top-10 matchup
Last week: 1
This week: at West Virginia (Saturday); vs. UCF (Tuesday)
What to know: Iowa State is going to be a popular Final Four pick in the office bracket pool come March, and for good reason. But what about the national champion pick? The Cyclones look the part.
Last week: 2
This week: at UCF (Saturday); vs. Utah (Tuesday)
What to know: Houston has won 32 straight games at home. Impressive. But it only just picked up its first Quad 1 win of the season in four games on Wednesday against West Virginia. Now, that’s hard to believe.
Last week: 3
This week: at Texas Tech (Saturday); at Oklahoma State (Tuesday)
What to know: The Wildcats have won seven straight games, five in Big 12 play, and most of the credit should go to 7-foot big man Henri Veesaar. The third-year redshirt sophomore from Estonia is averaging 124 points and 6.6 rebounds off the bench in conference play.
Last week: 4
This week: vs. Iowa State (Saturday); vs. Arizona State (Tuesday)
What to know: The Mountaineers can beat a lot of teams in the Big 12. But beating the strongest teams might require the return of Tucker DeVries to aid star Javon Small. Otherwise, life will be a rollercoaster.
Last week: 5
This week: vs. Kansas State (Saturday); at TCU (Wednesday)
What to know: Remember when the Jayhawks looked like national title contenders? That seems so long ago. Now, they’re tumbling out of the Big 12 title race. Inconsistent outside shooting is a killer. But now possible losing KJ Adams is worse.
Last week: 6
This week: vs. TCU (Sunday); vs. Kansas State (Wednesday)
What to know: The Bears are talented but flawed. They’re 2-4 against top-25 teams. They have just one true road win — and they nearly blew that at Arizona State. Yet, they have perhaps the best NBA prospect in the Big 12 (V.J. Edgecombe) and best rebounder (Norchad Omier).
Last week: 7
This week: vs. Houston (Saturday); at Iowa State (Tuesday)
What to know: Keyshawn Hall had a career night at Arizona State, dropping 40 points — 29 in the first half. He’s why the Knights have a solid NCAA Tournament resume, particularly with three Quad 1 victories.
Last week: 8
This week: vs. Arizona (Saturday); at Cincinnati (Tuesday)
What to know: The Red Raiders are becoming road warriors in league play, which is not a good sign for opponents considering United Supermarkets Arena is a nightmare for visitors. Oh, and Texas Tech is pretty good at defense.
Last week: 9
This week: vs. Arizona State (Saturday); vs. Texas Tech (Tuesday)
What to know: The Bearcats finally won a conference game, so that’s a step forward for a team that was ranked in the top 25 during non-conference play. But even that wasn’t pretty, nearly squandering a double-digit lead to short-handed Colorado.
Last week: 10
This week: at Utah (Saturday); at Colorado (Tuesday)
What to know: Freshman Egor Demin was in an awful slump. He had made two of his last 27 3-pointers until he made one in the second half against Oklahoma State during a 10-point flurry in four minutes. Maybe it’s a sign he’s heating up.
Last week: 12
This week: at Baylor (Sunday); vs. Kansas (Wednesday)
What to know: The Horned Frogs remain wildly inconsistent and hard to figure out. A win over a talented BYU team for the first time since 1997 is followed by a loss to Utah, giving TCU its first loss at home this season. Huh?
Last week: 16
This week: vs. BYU (Saturday); at Houston (Tuesday)
What to know: What a week for the Utes with their first two Big 12 wins. But really, what a week for Keanu Dawes, who scored 16 points in each upset win over Oklahoma State and TCU.
Last week: 11
This week: at Cincinnati (Saturday); at West Virginia (Tuesday)
What to know: The Sun Devils need budding star Joson Sanon fully back from an ankle injury in a bad way. He played sparingly in an overtime loss to Baylor but not at all against UCF. A seven-man rotation is no way to live in the Big 12.
Oklahoma State basketball schedule: Dates, times, TV for 2024-25 season
Last week: 13
This week: vs. Colorado (Saturday); vs. Arizona (Tuesday)
What to know: The Cowboys are no fans of Utah and its beautiful scenery after a miserable week there. OSU just isn’t a team with any sort of margin for error, especially when it comes to shooting the basketball.
Last week: 14
This week: at Kansas (Saturday); at Baylor (Wednesday)
What to know: Kansas State coach Jerome Tang was a master in tight games and overtime his first two seasons. Now, not so much. The Wildcats are 1-4 in games decided by single digits, including a loss in overtime.
Last week: 15
This week: at Oklahoma State (Saturday); vs. BYU (Tuesday)
What to know: Buffaloes coach Tad Boyle said he feels his team is “the poorest-coached team in America” after dropping a fifth straight Big 12 game Wednesday. Harsh. But Colorado has not won a Big 12 regular-season game since March 5, 2011.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Big 12 basketball power rankings: Iowa State a Final Four contender
