The Top Ten Number 10s in Iowa State History

In honor of our 10th birthday occurring yesterday, we dug into the depths of Iowa State’s past and ranked the top ten players in the history of Iowa State who repped the number 10.

From the JFK administration to the Leath administration, here is what Jared and I came up with.

Feel free to agree, disagree or comment, or maybe all three!

1. Diante Garrett:

Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images

The brightest spot of the McDermott era, one of just 34 players in school history in the 1,000 point club. Garrett ranks 19th all time with 1,364, one spot ahead of Jeff Hornacek. Playing with the likes of Craig Brackins, Marquis Gilstrap, and Wesley Johnson (honorable mention to Jiří Hubálek), Garrett was one of the better players on the team, but in his senior year he took off. Averaging 17.3 points and 6.1 assists per game, he was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team. It’s also worth noting that his 611 career assists is second in school history.

Even though Garrett was never able to participate in an NCAA Tournament, he played a crucial role in a road upset of K-State in 2010. Garrett’s legacy won’t be as a player on the best teams, but his legacy as an enjoyable player and in the record books will last forever,

2. Tom Vaughn:

1964 Media Guide

Sure, Tom Vaughn only wore the number ten in 1964 but in that year he was an All-Big Eight defensive back. In 1963, Vaughn was actually second in the Big Eight for rushing behind Gale Sayers (who lost 17-14 to Iowa State). The number two player on our list led the Big Eight in punt returns his junior and senior year and was named Iowa State Athlete of the Year in 1965.

The 57th Overall pick by the Detroit Lions had nine interceptions and fumble recoveries from 1965-1971.

In 1975, Vaughn returned as a running backs coach with Earle Bruce. He left after the 1977 Peach Bowl and became a high school teacher in Phoenix.

3. Brian Peavy:

Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images

A lock down corner for Iowa State in his four seasons as a Cyclone. His junior and senior year, Peavy was named a Second-Team All-Big 12 player. Throughout his career, Peavy defended 44 passes, intercepted six passes, forced six fumbles, and recorded 289 tackles. For the better part of his career, Peavy was one of the top cornerbacks in the nation by PFF.com.

If Peavy did house the interception against TCU in 2017, he would probably be at number two on this list, but he didn’t.

4. Lauren Mansfield:

Iowa State Women’s Basketball Twitter

Lauren Mansfield transferred to Iowa State after two years at Midland (TX) CC. In the 64 games Mansfield appeared in, she averaged around eight points. However, against Iowa, she averaged 15.5 points per game.

She’s found lots of success with Australia’s WNBL, leading that league in assists in 2015-2016 with 5.5 per game (while scoring 15.9 ppg).

She moved to Poland’s CCC Polkowice in February 2020 and in five games she averaged 9.4 ppg, 3.6 rpg and 3 apg.

5. Jacques Washington:

One of the more underrated defensive backs for Iowa State in recent history. A three-year starter racked up stats in his career. Washington defended 23 passes, had six interceptions, 299 tackles, and eight tackles for loss. In his senior season, he earned Second-Team All-Big 12 honors at safety.

More important than stats, he came huge in the biggest games of his career. In the 2011 upset over Oklahoma State, Washington intercepted his first career pass and forced a fumble. Against Iowa in 2012, he picked off James Vandenberg (as pictured above) and recorded six tackles. Finally, in the 2013 24-point comeback against West Virginia, Washington intercepted two passes, one of which led to Iowa State tying the game, and recovered a fumble.

6. Jacy Holloway:

One of the best role players in Iowa State history, Holloway was apart of a tournament team in all four seasons as a Cyclone. A three-year starter, Holloway averaged 3.5 points on high efficiency, but more importantly he averaged 4.7 assists per game throughout his career. His 592 career assists ranks him fourth in school history behind Jeff Hornacek, Diante Garrett, and Gary Thompkins.

In Iowa State’s second round game against Cincinnati in 1996, Holloway had an 11 point, six assist performance while going 5-5 from the line in a 67-66 win to go to the Sweet 16.

7. Alex Giffords

Alex “Definitely not YouTuber Gus Johnson” Giffords grew up in Mexico City and didn’t see his first football game until he moved to Arizona. However, this isn’t a compendium of Alex Giffords knowledge as much as it is how he did at Iowa State in a size seven cleat.

In the ‘Records’ portion of the 2019 Iowa State Football Fact Book, his name appears 21 times. Notably: four field goals against Iowa in 1982, almost beating Oklahoma in 1981, tied the longest field goal in school history at 58 yards and 214 career points.

8. Denae Stuckey:

Iowa State Women’s Basketball Twitter

Although, her stats don’t jump off of the page (3.1 points per game in her career,) Stuckey was one of the biggest pieces in Iowa State’s 2009 Elite 8 run and their 2010 Sweet 16 appearance. During her senior year, Stuckey averaged 1.24 steals per game and 6.1 rebounds, while being named to the Big 12 All-Defensive team.

9. Eero Helanto

Max Goldberg

Eero, a 5’4” forward and defenseman from Turku, Finland, played at Iowa State from 2013-2017. In 165 games, the would-be assistant captain his senior year dished out 63 assists, while scoring 20 goals and 83 total points. While never the biggest player on the ice, Helanto played above and beyond his size both in play and in heart.

10. Jacob Park

Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Oh yes. One of the biggest what-ifs in Iowa State history, the uber-talented Jacob Park. The one and a half year starter for the Cyclones had his career cut short after the 2017 Texas game where he threw 48 passes and completed 24 of them, including three interceptions for a passer rating of 87.4. After that game, we never saw the sleeve tattoo or the luscious hair in the cardinal and gold again.

However, Park’s peak is just enough to land him on this list. Even though his lows were very low, for most of 2016, the Georgia transfer was one of the brightest spots on the team. The iconic 66-10 win over Texas Tech is remembered as the Joel Lanning game (rightfully so,) but Park also played very well with 285 yards with 14 completions on 18 attempts.

HM: Tracy Rial, Erica Junod, Jim Abrahamson, Kyle Van Winkle, Darrell Bowie, Daniel Stensland #walkonU