Tag: caleb grill

Former Cyclone commits to play for Missouri

Former Iowa State and UNLV guard announces his transfer decision.

The [autotag]Missouri Tigers[/autotag] added to their basketball team for the 2023-24 season. Former Iowa State Cyclone guard Caleb Grill will head to Columbia, Missouri, to continue his collegiate playing career.

Grill spent time between Iowa State and UNLV in his four seasons at the collegiate level. He began with the Cyclones in 2019 and joined the Rebels in 2020 before returning to Iowa State in 2021. Over three seasons with the Cyclones, Grill has averaged 5.9 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 0.9 steals in 89 games. He mostly played in a reserve role until 2022 when he started 22 games.

Grill unceremoniously left Iowa State towards the end of the 2022-23 season. He was dismissed from the team in March due to a failure to meet the program’s expectations. The 6-foot-3 guard will now get a new start with his third different program since 2019.

Coming out of high school, Grill was listed as a three-star point guard out of Maize, Kansas, by 247Sports. Joe Tipton of On3 announced the commitment on Twitter.

Grill joins former Indiana guard Tamar Bates and former Colorado State guard John Tonje on the Tigers roster as incoming transfers. Missouri finished the 2022-23 season with a 25-10 record and 11-7 in SEC play. They were tied for fourth in the conference along with the Tennessee Vols and Vanderbilt Commodores.

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Sooners drop back to back Big 12 home games, losing to No. 25 Iowa State 63-60

For the second time in as many games, the Oklahoma Sooners come out on the wrong end of a close ball game, losing to Iowa State 63-60.

For the second straight game, Oklahoma found itself in a dogfight until the very last second. And for the second game in a row, the Sooners were left grasping for what could’ve been against yet another ranked opponent at home.

While the atmosphere was far from the environment when Texas visited on New Year’s Eve, Oklahoma’s midweek showdown with the No. 25 Iowa State Cyclones was a highly contested affair, with the Cyclones squeaking out a 63-60 win.

Iowa State came out swinging, building an 18-point lead in the first half. Oklahoma responded like a prized fighter on the ropes and countered with a 20-0 run which was sparked by tenacious defense and Bijan Cortes off the bench.

The score was 29-29 at the half. The second half was a close affair all the way through, but Iowa State’s Caleb Grill continued to pace the Cyclones offensively, finishing with 20 points on 5 of 9 shooting. Tanner Groves posted 15 points and 8 boards, while forward Jalen Hill led Oklahoma in scoring with 16 points.

Iowa State’s defensive game plan from the outset was centered on taking Sooners leading scorer Grant Sherfield out of the game. Iowa State sent waves of defenders at Sherfield and it disrupted the talented guard’s rhythm from the jump. Sherfield played 27 minutes and shot 1 of 7 from the field.

The see-saw second half came down to the final seconds with the Cyclones up 61-60 and the Sooners inbounding on their side of the court. An inaccurate feed into the post to Jalen Hill went out of bounds, and Iowa State knocked down the ensuing free throws to make it 63-60. A desperation three was no good for the home team, and the Sooners fell to 0-2 in Big 12 play and 9-5 overall.

Two devastating opportunities at home for resume-strengthening wins have been squandered for Oklahoma. As it currently stands, the Sooners are last in the Big 12. Oklahoma will hit the hardwood looking to snap out of their slide on the road against the Texas Tech Red Raiders. That game is Saturday, January 7, and can be seen on ESPN+.

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