There was plenty to like about Iowa State’s 2025-26 season, and the Cyclones backed it up with historic production. For the fifth straight year under T.J. Otzelberger, they reached the NCAA tournament, then pushed on to the Sweet 16 even after Joshua Jefferson went down just minutes into the first game against Tennessee State.
But the offseason brings a different conversation, because Jefferson is one of the major pieces not coming back in 2026-27, and his departure leaves Otzelberger with real holes to fill. Jefferson was valuable on both ends, yet there was one part of his game that stood out for the wrong reasons.
At different points last season, Otzelberger experimented with different looks, including stretches with Jefferson at center or Eric Mulder. The idea was to see what could work without Blake Buchanan or Dominykas Pleta. What those lineups revealed was simple: Iowa State had no rim protection without them.
According to Sam Vecenie’s draft profile for Jefferson at The Athletic, opponents shot 65% at the rim when Jefferson was on the floor. That was already a problem, especially given how often he shared the court with Buchanan or Pleta. Without one of those two beside him, the number jumped all the way to 72%.
That kind of leakage is exactly what Otzelberger needs to clean up, and Iowa State has taken steps to do it.
Taj Manning, a transfer from Kansas State, ranked 18th in the Big 12 with a 3.7% block rate last season. Leon Bond III, a wing transfer from Northern Iowa, finished 14th in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 2.8% block rate and was 12th in total blocks with 26.
Then there’s freshman Dorian Rinaldo-Komlan, who arrives with a reputation for defensive impact at the high school level as a springy, long and athletic big man who can play above the rim on both ends of the floor.
With Manning, Bond III, and Rinaldo-Komlan joining Buchanan and Pleta, Iowa State should have a far more physical and disruptive presence inside. That added size and flexibility could go a long way toward solving the issue that showed up so clearly last season and keeping the Cyclones in the national title mix.
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Iowa State Just Got Hit With A Brutal Big 12 Disrespect
Iowa States offseason has already been defined by upheaval, with Matt Campbell leaving for Penn State and a wave of players following him there. Jimmy Rogers, hired away from Washington State, now inherits a program trying to stabilize itself quickly, and the early conversation around the Cyclones has not exactly been flattering.
On3s Big 12 power rankings for the 2026 season put Iowa State at the bottom of the league, a sharp drop for a team that reached the conference title game two years ago and still went 8-4 last season. The ranking has sparked a fair amount of pushback, too, because the Cyclones still have enough returning pieces that some around the league think they belong well ahead of the very bottom of the conference picture. [Read more 🡒]
T.J. Otzelberger Faces A New Iowa State Test Fans Will Feel Fast
Iowa States offseason reset is already feeling bigger than a routine roster shuffle, even after a season that put the program back in a familiar winning place. The Cyclones have moved into 2026-27 with a mix of returning pieces, newcomers and staff turnover, and T.J. Otzelberger has made it clear the next step is about more than talent. For a team that has built its identity on edge and cohesion, the challenge now is stitching together a new group without losing the habits that carried it so far.
The departures were heavy, and the replacements are still getting acquainted with both the program and each other, which is why the early days of summer matter so much around Ames. Iowa State has added experience on the bench and fresh options on the roster, but the real test comes in how quickly the Cyclones can make all of it look like one team. Fans will feel that process fast, because the first signs of whether this group is tracking upward or simply starting over will show up long before league play does. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa State Just Revealed Two Program Defining Honors
Iowa State spent this week putting a spotlight on two seasons that gave the program plenty to celebrate, naming Joshua Jefferson as the Gary Thompson Male Athlete of the Year and Mercyline Kirwa as the Celia Barquin Arozamena Female Athlete of the Year for 2025-26. Jeffersons recognition fits a basketball year that kept adding milestones, from his multiple triple-doubles to a scoring run that became one of the defining stretches of the season. Kirwa, meanwhile, turned in a freshman campaign that quickly pushed her into the top tier of Cyclone distance runners.
For Iowa State, the appeal of these honors is in how different they are and how equally valuable they felt. Jeffersons impact came on the court, where he paired consistency with rare production, while Kirwa made her mark on the track by winning at the national level and reshaping the school record book before most freshmen have settled in. The only question now is how much more both athletes can still add to their legacies, because the way each season unfolded left the Cyclones with a lot to look forward to. [Read more 🡒]