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Iowa State has dismissed guard Caleb Grill following “a failure to meet the program’s expectations,” the Cyclones announced in a statement Wednesday. “We hold our players to high standards and there are expectations that our student-athletes are held accountable for,” Cyclones head coach T.J. Otzelberger said.
A senior in his second stint in Ames — he joined the program in 2019, spent his sophomore season with UNLV and then returned to Iowa State for the past two seasons — Grill was scoring 9.5 points per game this season, third on the team. He led the Cyclones in 3-point percentage (36.8%) and was third in rebounds per game (4.0).
The dismissal comes during a difficult stretch for Otzelberger’s team on the court. The Cyclones have lost four straight and eight of their last 10, falling to an No. 8 seed in Jerry Palm’s Bracketology. The Cyclones also fell out of the most recent AP Top 25 for the first time since the calendar year began.
Grill had played in 25 of Iowa State’s 29 games this season with 22 starts. He had missed some time recently with a back injury and had scored just 11 points total over his final four games with the team. Iowa State (17-12, 8-9 Big 12) concludes its regular season Saturday at Baylor. The Big 12 Tournament begins March 8.
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