College Basketball Preseason Rankings: No. 16 Iowa State Cyclones

Top-25 College Basketball: Iowa State Projected Roster & Outlook

In this series, we'll be taking a closer look at RotoWire's preseason college basketball top-25, with an in-depth roster analysis and projected rotation for the 2025-26 season for each team. Today's feature will be the Iowa State Cyclones.

For up-to-the-minute updates on injuries, roles and overall player performance, head to RotoWire's latest college basketball news page or follow @RotoWireCBB on X.

16. Iowa State

Iowa State was one of the favorites to cut down the nets through the first couple months of the season, but they struggled quite a bit once Big 12 play hit and ended up finishing just fifth in the conference. The Cyclones dealt with a lot of injuries, during that part of the year and it seemed to affect the rhythm going into the postseason which ended in a Round of 32 upset to Ole Miss. Iowa State will have to replace two of the best guards in the Big 12 in Curtis Jones (17.4 PPG) and Keshon Gilbert (13.4 PPG, 4.1 APG). The good news is that they will still have Tamin Lipsey in the backcourt, who should see his numbers trend back to what he produced as a sophomore before the rise of Jones and Gilbert at 12.4 PPG, 4.9 APG, 4.6 RPG and 2.7 SPG. Joshua Jefferson will also return, and there was a real case to be made that he was the best player on this team a year ago averaging 13.0 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 3.1 APG and 2.1 SPG. Milan Momcilovic struggled with a hand injury last season, but there's a lot of buzz that he could potentially take a big leap as a junior. The 6-8 forward is a great scorer with deep range. Virginia transfer Blake Buchanan should seamlessly fit into the starting center role vacated by Dishon Jackson. There will likely be a four-way battle for the final starting spot at shooting guard between Nate Heise, Eastern Washington transfer Mason Williams, Utah Valley transfer Dominick Nelson and top-75 recruit Jamarion Batemon. Heise likely gets the nod to begin the season after he made seven starts down the stretch of last season and shot 41 percent from three-point range. Coach T.J. Otzelberger has been great at getting solid contributions from unheralded players, but he will need to extract everything from Lipsey, Jefferson and Momcilovic for this team to reach its true potential that wasn't able to be shown at the tail end of last season.

Check out how injuries are affecting the status of other players & teams on RotoWire's college basketball injury report.

2025-26 Iowa State Basketball Projected Starting Lineup:

PG: Tamin Lipsey (10.6 PPG, 3.1 APG, 2.0 SPG)

SG: Nate Heise (5.1 PPG)

SF: Milan Momcilovic (11.5 PPG, 2.3 3PM)

PF: Joshua Jefferson (13.0 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 3.1 APG, 2.1 SPG)

C: Blake Buchanan (5.4 PPG, 5.3 RPG at Virginia)

Key Reserves: Mason Williams (13.9 PPG, 1.4 3PM at Eastern Washington), Dominick Nelson (14.4 PPG, 5.2 RPG at Utah Valley), Eric Mulder (8.4 PPG, 6.7 RPG at Purdue-Fort Wayne), Jamarion Batemon (No. 74 in ESPN 100), Xzavion Mitchell (No. 83 in ESPN 100), Killyan Toure (4-star Freshman)

Following another active transfer portal period, RotoWire's college basketball depth charts are updated with the latest in roster movement.

2025-26 Full Preseason College Basketball Top-25

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16. Iowa State Cyclones
17. Arizona Wildcats
18. Michigan State Spartans
19. Gonzaga Bulldogs
20. Kansas Jayhawks
21. Tennessee Volunteers
22. North Carolina Tar Heels
23. Oregon Ducks
24. Illinois Fighting Illini
25. Wisconsin Badgers