Prospect Spotlight: Tamin Lipsey (2022)
Tamin Lipsey’s first offer was a significant one, and it came before he’s even taken a single varsity dribble.
The Ames freshman-to-be received a scholarship offer over the weekend from Iowa State after impressing the coaches from his hometown university while playing at the Cyclones’ team camp.
“I was surprised,” Lipsey said. “I was kind of lost for words because I knew they had noticed me, but I wasn’t sure they were looking that far into me.”
Lipsey, a 6-foot guard, is the first player the Cyclones have offered in the 2022 class, and despite just graduating middle school, he’s been on radars for some time as he’s been playing up with All Iowa Attack, most recently with its 16U squad.
“I think playing up two years, it really helps me develop my skills and it really helps me with my work ethic and becoming a better basketball player,” Lipsey said. “Also, the coaches I’ve had and the teammates I’ve had, they help me improve my game. They don’t just say, ‘Oh, you’re good,’ but they put me through hard situations to prepare me for bigger situations.”
Lipsey was a difference-maker for Attack this spring – just has he has for years now despite his youth.
“He’s just a very mature kid,” Attack coach Lefty Moore said. “You would watch him play games, and it’s a really close game, he could just take over and win games for you. He made me a really good coach.
“But if you’re playing a game and you’re up 15 or you’re up 20, he would never shoot. He would get the ball to everybody else and let everybody else have fun. He was thinking like that as a sixth grader.”
Lipsey is expected to be a contributor for the Little Cyclones’ varsity squad this winter.
“He’s a terrific athlete with a really impressive basketball IQ for such a young age,” Ames coach Vance Downs said. “Right now his ability to finish and score it against much older and bigger kids is obviously very impressive.”
Lipsey’s attention will soon turn to the always-important July circuit with Attack.
“I might get some more looks which is good,” he said. “I’m going to have to keep working really hard. I think it’s good for our team because we might get some more exposure for everyone on the team, not just me.
“I think that’s really good because I don’t want to be the standout. I want to help other people get to where they want to be too.”
So while Iowa State offered the hometown kid early, the Cyclones aren’t likely to be alone for long on Lipsey’s offer list.
“I think before it’s all said and done, I think the Kansases, the North Carolinas and those schools are going to be in on him,” Moore said.