![]() Arch had instilled a lot of confidence in me, and I always knew he was telling the staff I could give us energy in these spots. ![]() He said, ‘Look, he can defend, he can shoot it.’ I had played in some games, but I hadn’t got into that game. “Arch had always advocated for me to play. “I have to give credit to our assistant coach Damon Archibald,” Neal remembered. He prepped like a player who was a starter, and the coaches noticed. They saw a guy who never complained and worked hard every single day in practice. In fact, in the seven games prior to the Iowa showdown, Neal accumulated a total of just 13 minutes of game time, notching DNPs in four of them.īut the Cyclone coaches saw something in Neal. The 6-4 shooting guard scored just three points in limited action as a rookie and was still primarily a deep bench reserve before the Big Game in his sophomore season. Neal also had to start over with an entirely new coaching staff in his second year, as Morgan replaced Eustachy as the leader of the Cyclone men’s basketball program prior to the 2003-04 campaign. Taylor died unexpectantly from complications of a stroke at the end of Neal’s freshman season. I got the opportunity to walk-on because of him, but I was pretty confident if I get the opportunity, I was going to make the most of it.” Pete was close with (ISU head coach at the time) Coach (Larry) Eustachy, so I was fortunate because Pete told the staff about me. “I was really fortunate because Pete Taylor was really close to my family. ![]() “I didn’t want to play anywhere else,” Neal said. ![]() He let the staff know about this kid from Winterset who was born to be a Cyclone. Pete Taylor, the “Voice of the Cyclones” from 1970-2003, was close friends with the Neal family. Undeterred, he decided to walk-on at Iowa State and joined the team for the 2002-03 season with help from one of the school’s most legendary figures. Neal had zero Division I offers and only a few Division II schools showed interest. There was one problem with Neal hooping at Iowa State, however. That was my dream to play for the Cyclones.” I remember watching Johnny Orr and Coach Floyd, they had great teams and great players. “He would share his stories and get us all excited, so obviously we were huge Iowa State fans growing up. “My father played football at Iowa State, and he was a proud Cyclone,” Neal said. His father, Brian Neal, was an outstanding offensive lineman for the Cyclone football team in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Neal was an unlikely hero considering his background.Ī native of Winterset, Iowa, Neal grew up diehard Cyclone fan. I rooted for Iowa State as a kid, and then to come full circle, to help your team beat a team you dislike. “I couldn’t have had a better experience than playing at Iowa State. “It was the coolest thing,” Neal reminisced 20 years later. Neal jumpstarted a monumental and decisive 21-8 run to close out an 84-76 Iowa State victory with strong defense and clutch 3-pointers that nearly blew the roof off Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones needed a spark and Iowa State head coach Wayne Morgan looked to Neal. Iowa State led by nine at the half, but the Hawkeyes flipped the script after intermission, moving ahead 68-63 after a Pierre Pierce basket with 4:43 remaining in the contest. Former Iowa Stater John Neal was inserted into the lineup for the first time with six minutes remaining in the January 2004 Iowa State-Iowa men’s basketball game in Ames.Īt the time of Neal’s entrance to the annual Cy-Hawk game, the Cyclones were losing control against their instate rival. ![]()
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