AMES, Iowa — You could ask all 14,267 people at a sold out Hilton Coliseum what "Hilton Magic" means to them, and you will probably get a different answer from every single person.
"It's the belief in that building," said Brent Blum of CycloneFanatic.com. "It's knowing that no matter what the score is or who the opponent is, Iowa State has a chance."
Two former players had different answers too.
"It's just magical," said Melvin Ejim, a forward from 2010-14. "It's this feeling that you have whenever you step on the court."
"It's a combination of the concrete, the fan base and having a good team," said Georges Niang, a forward from 2012-2016.
There is no official start of "Hilton Magic," but most Iowa State fans would say it started in 1983 after Barry Stevens made a buzzer-beater in a 73-72 overtime win over Missouri.
Before Johnny Orr was the head coach of Iowa State, they had made just one NCAA Tournament appearance in school history, Orr made it six times and took a dormant program to relevancy.
This three-part story takes the viewer all the way back to the construction of Hilton in 1971, to the Johnny Orr era, through the present-day T.J. Otzelberger era.