AMES, Iowa — "Right away, within the first hour or two."
That's how long it took for Iowa State to reach out to fifth-year senior Nate Heise when he entered the transfer portal.
Heise, the University of Northern Iowa's leading scorer in 2023-24, already had relationships in Ames. Two of Iowa State's assistant coaches, Kyle Green and Erik Crawford, were at UNI when Heise was an underclassmen.
"They have your best interest in mind, and that made that decision a lot easier," Heise said.
Along with established relationships, Heise was ready for a jump in competition.
"Nothing but good thing to say about (UNI). But after the year ended, I kind of looked up and thought about, you know, what I wanted to do going forward, and I think I just wanted to play in arguably the best conference."
Heise averaged 13.5 points per game as a senior but comes into a program that returns its four leading scorers. He's ready to do whatever to fit in the Big 12.
"I know what it is to be sometimes more of a role player when I was younger, when I was a freshman, sophomore at UNI so just, you know, doing what you're good at."
"We evaluate fit and from a standpoint of culture and attitude and toughness, those are things that certainly translate," said ISU head coach T.J. Otzelberger. "Regardless of what they score or what they're asked to do at their last stop, we're going to put them in position to be successful in our program and dealing with the things that they can to help us win. And Nate brings a lot to the table. There's a lot of things that he does to impact winning."
Those "things" include;
"He's a very physical defensive player, a guy that guards multiple positions, a lot of pride in getting stops. He's very strong and physical at the guard spot, and does a great job getting loose balls and rebounds finishing plays," Otzelberger said. "Offensively, his strengths are more as the ball continues to move, he can knock down a shot, attack, a close out, make an extra pass."
Heise is aware of the expectations that surround the program.
"I've yet to play in an NCAA tournament. And obviously preseason things are what they are. They don't mean a ton, but just being in that position where if you do what you're supposed to do, you're gonna have the chance to play in that tournament."
Iowa State opens up the season Nov. 4 vs. Mississippi Valley State at Hilton Coliseum.