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Iowa State Cyclones

Iowa State Basketball Officially Announce Transfer Additions

Five players have been officially added to the Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team via the transfer portal.
Kenneth Teape|
Mar 19, 2026; St. Louis, MO, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach T.J. Otzelberger talks to the media during a practice session ahead of the first round of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Enterprise Center.
Mar 19, 2026; St. Louis, MO, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach T.J. Otzelberger talks to the media during a practice session ahead of the first round of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Enterprise Center. | Jeff Le-Imagn Images

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Iowa State Cyclones

Iowa State Cyclones men’s basketball head coach T.J. Otzelberger knew that he would have his work cut out for him this offseason.

There were a lot of changes occurring. Two of his assistants, JR Blount and Kyle Green, were hired to fill head coaching vacancies. He had five seniors leaving the team in Tamin Lipsey, Joshua Jefferson, Nate Heise, Dominick Nelson and Eric Mulder.

Nelson hit the transfer portal seeking another year of eligibility, and was joined there by Cade Kelderman, Mason Williams and Milan Momcilovic.

That is a lot of key pieces who have helped put Iowa State on the map alongside Otzelberger, but he didn’t panic. When the transfer portal opened, he got to work identifying the perfect players for his scheme and he came away with five new additions.

Iowa State officially welcomes transfers to team

Northern Iowa guard Leon Bond III speaking to media.
Mar 19, 2026; San Diego, CA, USA; Northern Iowa guardLeon Bond III (35) answers a question at a press conference ahead of the first round of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Viejas Arena. | Denis Poroy-Imagn Images

Leon Bond III of the Northern Iowa Panthers, Taj Manning of the Kansas State Wildcats, Jaquan Johnson of the Bradley Braves, Tre Singleton of the Northwestern Wildcats and Ryan Prather Jr. of the Robert Morris Colonials are all Cyclones now.

Those five players have officially joined the program, as shared by the official Iowa State basketball account for the men’s team on X.

That is a great mix of experience and talent being infused into the roster. Those five, along with a four-player Class of 2026 of Yusef Gray Jr., Christian Wiggins, Jackson Kiss and Dorian Rinaldo-Komlan, have restocked the roster.

Iowa State fans have to be excited about what this team could be capable of during the 2026-27 season. Coming off a 29-win campaign that disappointingly ended in the Sweet 16 against the Tennessee Volunteers, the Cyclones should once again be viewed as one of the best teams in the country.

Losing the Big 3 of Lipsey, Jefferson and Momcilovic on top of the quintessential glue guy in Heise is not easy. That is half of the rotation departing, but optimism should still be very high, especially with a core of Blake Buchanan, Killyan Toure, Jamarion Batemon and Dominykas Pleta returning for another year.

Otzelberger and his staff did a great job of bringing in players who can help fill those roles and address weaknesses from this past season’s team.

Some way-too-early rankings had the Cyclones in the top 10 before the transfer portal opened. Losing Momcilovic will hurt their standing, but they added five bona fide high-level players to help offset the loss with a stellar freshman class incoming as well.

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Kenneth Teape
KENNETH TEAPE

Kenneth Teape is an alumnus of SUNY Old Westbury and graduated in 2013 with an Honors Degree in Media Communications with a focus on print journalism. During his time at Old Westbury, he worked for the school newspaper and several online publications, such as Knicks Now, the official website of the New York Knicks, and a self-made website with fellow students, Gotham City Sports News. Kenneth has also been a site expert at Empire Writes Back, Musket Fire, and Lake Show Life within the FanSided Network. He was a contributor to HoopsHabit, with work featured on Bleacher Report and Yardbarker. In addition to his work here, he is a reporter for both NBA Analysis Network and NFL Analysis Network, as well as a writer and editor for Packers Coverage. You can follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @teapester725, or reach him via email at teapester725@gmail.com.

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