Peterson: Is this Bill Fennelly's best work as Iowa State's basketball coach? Absolutely.
AMES – Now I’m stating fact about something I danced around last week. Bill Fennelly’s 601st and 602nd wins as Iowa State women’s basketball coach prove to me that this is the best of his 28-plus seasons leading the Cyclones.
There, I said it.
A young team that included so many freshmen (though all of them came to college already knowing the finer points of the game).
Roster turnover.
Zippo expectation to repeat as Big 12 Conference Tournament champions.
Losing Emily Ryan for most of the non-conference season as she battled a health-related issue.
But yet, Fennelly’s team is 5-0 in the Big 12 after beating West Virginia on Wednesday and then doing it again Saturday in a 66-63 victory against seventh-ranked Baylor – both games at still-magical Hilton Coliseum.
Two victories against very good opponents. Consecutive upsets.
Could this team with a rotation that includes five true freshmen be so young that it doesn’t know how good it can be? We saw it with Matt Campbell’s youthful football team that won seven games. Now we’re seeing it on the other side of the parking lot with Fennelly’s basketball team.
“We’ve been that way all year,” Fennelly said Saturday. “I don’t think that’s an incorrect statement. You don’t know what you don’t know. Then there’s a play, and you’re like, 'Oh my God, what are they thinking?' And probably they’re not thinking in that moment."
Again, Fennelly's best coaching job, all things considered?
More: Iowa State women's basketball upsets No. 7 Baylor at Hilton Coliseum
“It’s going to be on the short list, for sure, a really short list,” Fennelly said after Saturday’s game. “Given the situation, the opponent, the makeup of our team, what this group has been through, what Emily Ryan’s been through, and you start adding it all up − I don’t know if it’s improbable, but to beat (Baylor) the way we did it, so ...”
He was reluctant to call it the best. He knows the sample size is just 16 games. He knows young teams can implode just as quickly as they spring upsets.
“We’ve talked a lot about, just do what you can do,” Fennelly said. “We’ve had a lot of really good teams here, and we’ve been really blessed, but this team ... I mean, they’re smiling, they're upbeat. When Audi (Crooks) smiles, the whole place explodes. Addy (Brown) has a little edge to her ... that’s what’s made this team maybe a little unique at this stage. They’re all so talented ... they’ve embraced what his team needs from them.”
More: A look back at Iowa State women's basketball's wins over top-10 teams in the last decade
I ran into Iowa State senior associate athletics director Callie Sanders after the game. I posed to her the best coaching season question.
“I think he’s done a phenomenal job,” Sanders said. “I’m proud of him. Our young team is really performing. It’s coaching and tough players. It’s Hilton Magic.”
It’s Bill Fennelly.
“It’s hard to compare,” said Ryan, the veteran of this young team. “I’m not comparing year to year. This is what he does. He pours so much into this program. It shows on the court and reflects on the way we play, and it’s showing this year, even more so than other years. I’m so blessed I get to play for coach Fenn.”
Fennelly figured he could have something special after the eighth game, emphasis on could. It looked like Ryan’s preseason injury rehab was coming along. Each of the freshmen had shown signs of playing beyond their years. Truman State transfer Hannah Belanger blended in just like she’d been on the roster for years (she was a big reason behind the victory against Baylor).
“After we played Iowa, OK, we can compete a little,” Fennelly said of his thoughts about this team. “I don’t think it’s an accident – its correlated with (Ryan). When she came back and got into games ... I think that changed a lot of people's mindset.”
He’s also realistic:
“We’re 5-0; we could easily be 0-5.”
Iowa State columnist Randy Peterson is in his 51st year writing sports for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at rpeterson@dmreg.com, on X @RandyPete, and at DesMoinesRegister.com/CyclonesTexts
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: This is Bill Fennelly's best season as Iowa State basketball coach
