Iowa State Basketball Assistant Has Interest in Northern Iowa Job

The Northern Iowa Panthers are in need of a new head coach and an Iowa State Cyclones assistant has thrown his hat into the ring.

Mar 4, 2025; Ames, Iowa, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach T.J. Otzelberger, JR Blount and Kyle Green watch the Cyclones play the Brigham Young Cougars during the second half at James H. Hilton Coliseum. | Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

The Iowa State Cyclones men’s basketball team is going to look a lot different for the 2026-27 season than it did at the conclusion of the 2025-26 campaign.

At least five players are not returning, with Joshua Jefferson, Tamin Lipsey, Nate Heise, Dominick Nelson and Eric Mulder all exhausting eligibility. Milan Momcilovic may not return for his senior year after declaring for the 2026 NBA Draft.

On the bench, even the coaching staff will be different. T.J. Otzelberger remains as the head coach after shutting down rumors of heading to the North Carolina Tar Heels. However, lead assistant JR Blount will not be back.

He was hired by the San Diego Toreros to become their head coach. And now a second assistant is seeking the opportunity to become a head coach elsewhere.

Kyle Green showing interest in Northern Iowa head coaching job

Mar 12, 2026; Kansas City, MO, USA; Iowa State Cyclones mascot during a timeout against the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the second half at T-Mobile Center. | William Purnell-Imagn Images

According to Cole Bair of 1650-102.3 The Fan, Kyle Green wants to be considered by the Northern Iowa Panthers for their men’s basketball head coaching position. He has reportedly contacted leadership at the school, expressing interest in the job.

Northern Iowa needs a new head coach after Ben Jacobson was hired to become the new head coach of the Utah State Aggies.

Jacobsen was the head coach of the Panthers for 20 seasons, compiling a record of 397-259. They made the NCAA tournament five times and were the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season champions four times.

Green has been with Iowa State since Otzelberger took over for the 2021-22 season. He is an integral part of the staff, being credited as the architect behind the team’s dominant defense over the last few years.

Per sources: Iowa State assistant coach Kyle Green, who spent 16 seasons as an assistant at .@UNImbb, has contacted university leadership with interest in the Panthers head coaching position after Ben Jacobson’s departure to Utah State.

— Cole Bair (@realColeBair) March 31, 2026

With 30 years of coaching experience under his belt, he has certainly put in the time and work to land a head coaching position. Northern Iowa is a program that he knows very well, spending more than half of his career on the sidelines with the Panthers.

He had three different stints at the school, spending 16 years total on the coaching staff with Northern Iowa. The associate head coach role was given to him ahead of the 2017-18 campaign and he was named the MVC's top assistant head coach in the summer of 2020.

Losing him, in addition to Blount’s departure, would create massive voids on the coaching staff to fill. Replacing one assistant is hard enough, but replacing two, along with all of the talent leaving, would create a very busy offseason for Otzelberger to oversee.