Full disclosure before we begin. This article is biased. Completely and unapologetically, biased. Nate Heise was my favorite player on last year’s Iowa State team and I will not pretend otherwise. If you came here for objectivity I suggest you read literally anything else on this website.
Now. Let us talk about Nate Heise.
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The Journey
He arrived at Iowa State as a proven commodity and then proceeded to spend the first 25 games of his debut 2024-25 Cyclone season averaging 3.5 points per game while shooting 26.3 percent from three.
He battled confidence issues openly. Cyclone fans wondered what happened to the guy who was supposed to provide veteran presence and shooting.
Then February happened. Once he hit his stride he finished the year averaging 5.1 points per game and shooting 40.9 percent from three on the season. Nate brought momentum and confidence to his senior year. Side note, the preseason media day eyebrow cut was inspiring. He did have a stretch similar to the 2024-2025 season where it felt as though his confidence was waning. But that was about to change again.
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The Houston Game
February 16th. Hilton Coliseum. Iowa State versus Houston. A massive game in a packed building.
I was in Savannah, Georgia, visiting my niece who was two months old at the time. I had to keep it down in the living room so naturally I was absolutely losing my mind internally over a college basketball game while a newborn slept nearby.
Heise finished with 11 points on 4 of 6 shooting including three threes. Iowa State won 70 to 67. The moment I remember most is Joshua Jefferson finding him on the perimeter and Heise catching it in rhythm, no dip, no gather, no hesitation, straight into his shooting motion and straight through the net. I celebrated in complete silence in Savannah, Georgia. My niece had no idea.
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That is what Nate Heise does.
The Tournament
Everything Heise built through February carried straight into March. In three NCAA Tournament games he averaged 17.3 points per game. He scored 22 against Tennessee State hitting four threes. The player everyone wondered about in November was the player everyone was talking about in March (outside of Jefferson’s injury).
For the 2025-26 season he appeared in all 37 games averaging 5.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 24.9 minutes per game. The box score never fully captured what he meant to that team. It never does with players like him.
The Goodbye
Nate Heise is done as a Cyclone. Six years of college basketball, two programs, one inspired eyebrow cut, and a March run that Ames will not forget.
Thank you Nate. I was cheering for you the whole time. Even when I had to do it quietly.
