Northwestern Transfer Set for Visit With Iowa State Basketball

The next few weeks are going to be incredibly busy for the Iowa State Cyclones, who have spots to fill not only on their coaching staff, but roster as well.

T.J. Otzelberger needs one more assistant to fill out his staff. JR Blount and Kyle Green accepted head coaching positions with the San Diego Toreros and Northern Iowa Panthers, respectively. Thus far, Tim Buckley has been hired to fill one of the spots.

On the roster, five seniors have graduated: Joshua Jefferson, Tamin Lipsey, Nate Heise, Dominick Nelson and Eric Mulder. Nelson has entered the transfer portal, along with junior guard Cade Kelderman. Milan Momcilovic put his name into the mix for the NBA Draft.

That is a lot of depth and production to replace. Otzelberger will assuredly look to the transfer portal for help, with some targets already emerging, such as Tre Singleton.

Iowa State set to host Northwestern transfer Tre Singleton

Washington Huskies forward Bryson Tucker defending Northwestern Wildcats forward Tre Singleton. — Jan 31, 2026; Evanston, Illinois, USA; Washington Huskies forward Bryson Tucker (8) defends Northwestern Wildcats forward Tre Singleton (8) Washington Huskies forward Bryson Tucker (8) defends Northwestern Wildcats forward Tre Singleton (8) during the first half at Welsh-Ryan Arena. | David Banks-Imagn Images

The Northwestern Wildcats freshman has entered the transfer portal and he has already set up a visit with the Cyclones for this weekend, according to his agent, James Conley Jr., via Dushawn London of 247Sports and CBS Sports on X.

In his one season with the Wildcats, Singleton appeared in 34 games, starting 31 of them. He averaged 7.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.6 steals and 0.6 blocks in 25 minutes per game.

Iowa State getting in on him early with a visit set for this weekend makes plenty of sense when looking at the current roster. There is a gaping hole in the frontcourt left by Jefferson’s departure; their forward depth chart could be in even worse shape if Momcilovic remains in the 2026 NBA Draft.

Singleton didn’t show much as a 3-point shooter as a freshman, making only 9-of-54 attempts for 16.7%. But his free-throw shooting offers some optimism that he can figure things out with his jumper, connecting on 62 of 84 attempts from the charity stripe.

What he would provide the team is some much-needed size and versatility in the frontcourt. This past season, the Cyclones’ lack of size on the interior became apparent when Jefferson went down with an injury in the Round of 64 against the Tennessee State Tigers.

Northwestern transfer Tre Singleton will visit Iowa State this weekend, per his agent James Conley Jr.

Singleton averaged 7.6 points and 4.8 rebounds this season. pic.twitter.com/bLDRz8kMlL
— Dushawn London (@DushawnLondon1) April 7, 2026

Without him, Blake Buchanan and Dominykas Pleta were the only interior players to rely on. Momcilovic is listed at 6-foot-8, but he doesn’t make much of an impact on the glass as a rebounder.

Two of their recruits, Jackson Kiss and Dorian Rinaldo-Komlan, will certainly help shore things up front along with Buchanan and Pleta, but it is hard to envision Otzelberger handing over Jefferson’s role to a freshman.

Adding a player with Power Conference experience, which Singleton has, would be ideal. An added bonus is that he can be a building block for seasons to come with three years of eligibility remaining.

After seeing what Otzelberger did to expand the game of Jefferson, turning him into an NBA prospect in two campaigns, forwards with untapped potential should be lining up to come to Ames.