AP FILE PHOTO - Iowa State coach Bill Finnelly, center, associate head coach Jodi Steyer, right, and assistant coach Billy Finnelly, left, watch their team during the second half of a basketball game against Texas on Jan. 6, 2016, in Austin, Texas.

AMES — After 24 seasons with Iowa State women’s basketball and 31 years in coaching, Cyclone associate head coach Jodi Steyer is retiring.

Steyer announced her retirement from coaching on April 22 with a statement on social media, noting “this time last year, I decided this season would be my last so I could focus on family responsibilities. Since that time, my dad passed away which reinforced retirement was the right choice,” she wrote.

“I want to congratulate Jodi on her retirement,” ISU head coach Bill Fennelly in wrote on social media. “In my opinion, she has been one of the best assistant coaches in the country.”

In her time with the Cyclones, Steyer was part of 18 NCAA Tournament appearances, a trip to the Elite Eight, three Sweet 16s and a Big 12 Tournament title. But the success she experienced on the bench at ISU was only a small part of what defined a fruitful career.

Steyer was a standout as a four-year letterwinner and starter at Colorado State. She finished her career as the Rams’ all-time leading scorer (1,598 points) and was a three-time all-conference honoree.

After graduation, Steyer helped CSU men’s basketball coach Fred Litzenberger prepare for and work camps in the summer of 1989. Litzenberger and Bill Fennelly, Toledo’s women’s head coach at the time, crossed paths at Fresno State. That summer, Fennelly was looking for an assistant coach and called Litzenberger for intel on an assistant on CSU’s women’s staff that was from Iowa. However, she had already left CSU to take another job, but Litzenberger suggested Fennelly talk to Steyer. Fennelly brought her out for an interview and offered her the job.

“Deb (Fennelly) now admits she thought I was too young at 22,” joked Steyer. “And to that, I made the blunder of admitting I wasn’t sure if I wanted the job as I hadn’t had a great end to my playing career. Even after he offered, I had to have my parents convince me to ‘try it for a year.’ So, I guess you can say it was meant to be as I began as his only assistant and learned so much and loved it!”

In early years on the sideline together at Toledo, Fennelly and Steyer enjoyed much success, helping the Rockets to three NCAA Tournaments, five MAC Championships and a 141-45 (.758) overall record. Fennelly’s success attracted his home state’s attention, and in July 1995, Iowa State announced him as its sixth women’s basketball head coach.

Steyer rejoined Fennelly on the Iowa State staff in 2002.

“I’m so thankful he took the chance on a young, inexperienced assistant that just wanted to be involved with basketball and mentoring young people through some of the most important beginning stages of their adult life,” she said.

While Steyer is hanging up her coach’s whistle and will not be on the Cyclone bench in November, she plans to return to her role as a die-hard fan, still visible in the stands and the community with her husband, Ed. But the everyday interactions will look different, something she valued as the most memorable part of her position.

“It gave my time here great meaning and value, and I am forever grateful to them, Coach Fennelly, the staff I have worked with and all of Cyclone Nation for making Iowa State a true family experience for me and my whole family,” she said. “We will forever be Cyclones!”