In the summer, Blake Buchanan was spending a lot of time in a pool. For Iowa State, that wasn’t just a quirky offseason habit - it was part of a plan.
The 6-foot-10, 230-pound center from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, is heading into his second season with the Cyclones in 2026-27, and T.J. Otzelberger is betting on a major jump from the big man as Buchanan enters his fourth college season.
The idea was simple: if Iowa State wanted Buchanan to move better, the staff had to find a way to train him differently. So the pool became part of the routine.
"It's just something different than what we do every day," Buchanan said of his pool workouts in the summer. "Every day we're on a basketball court or in the weight room. Hard surfaces, so just kind of changing that up.
"Trying to change different patterns that your feet have to deal with in water or in sand. I think it was just trying to get my body to feel better doing different things. It was a lot easier on my body doing underwater workouts with weights."
Otzelberger’s program has been built on defense, and the results back that up. In each of his five seasons at Iowa State, the Cyclones have finished in the top 13 nationally in defensive efficiency.
Three of those teams cracked the top five. In 2024, Iowa State finished with the No. 1 defense in the country, with Robert Jones and Hason Ward handling the middle.
Jones was a 6-foot-10, 255-pound force. Ward brought the energy and shot-blocking at 6-foot-9, 230 pounds. A year later, the Cyclones changed course at center, bringing in Dishon Jackson and Brandt Chatfield, both at least 260 pounds.
That push for heavier bodies didn’t last long. Otzelberger moved on to Buchanan, who entered the portal after two seasons at Virginia - his freshman year under Tony Bennett and his sophomore season with interim coach Ron Sanchez.
"What we look for at that spot specifically are guys that have great recognition, great mobility, take pride on the defensive side of things," Otzelberger said. "If you're going to play pressure-style defense, at that position, you have to have someone defending pick-and-roll in the ball screen; can be highly active.
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