Iowa State basketball promotes 2 staffers to be new assistant coaches

Iowa State basketball next season will have some staffers taking on larger roles in aiding head coach T.J. Otzelberger on the sideline.

The Cyclones men's team on Thursday announced the promotion of Erik Crawford and Stevie Taylor as new assistant coaches. Crawford was the director of player development for the past two seasons, while Taylor was assistant director of player development in 2023-24.

During Crawford's tenure in Ames, ISU has advanced made back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances.

“Erik has been an unbelievable resource for the young men in our program,” Otzelberger said in a press release . “He has created tremendous value in improving our guy’s perimeter shooting and designing a plan of attack to be successful offensively. He has been a terrific asset to our coaching staff and program. We’re very happy for Erik.”

Crawford was integral in Tamin Lipsey's increased production during his sophomore 2023-24 season, according to the release. Lipsey's 3-point shooting starkly improved from just 5-of-25 as a freshman to 45-of-115 (39.1%) this past campaign.

Lipsey also increased his rebound average from 4.0 to 4.6, committed fewer turnovers and increased his assist total by 30, and raised his scored average by 5.1 points per game to 12.4.

Crawford played basketball and graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in 2006 before getting his master’s degree in kinesiology from Iowa State in 2011. As a Panther, he competed in three NCAA Tournaments.

The Minnesota native later worked as Creighton's director of basketball operations under Greg McDermott before returning to UNI as an assistant coach.

Taylor played his college ball at Ohio and went to the Sweet 16 as a freshman. He then worked as a graduate assistant at Boston College from 2017-19 and as an assistant coach at Langston (2019-2021) and Nicholls (2021-22).

He was then Toldeo's director of operations before joining ISU.

“Stevie has worked countless hours with our guys in the player development department and their skill development putting time into their game,” Otzelberger said in the release. “We’re excited for him and this step forward for him and his career.”

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State basketball promotes 2 staffers to be new assistant coaches