Former five-star recruit freshman Omaha Biliew became the newest Cyclone to enter his name in the transfer portal, joining fellow freshmen Jelani Hamilton and Kayden Fish, and sophomore Jackson Paveletzke.
Following a less-than-ideal start to the Iowa native’s collegiate career, Biliew announced Sunday via social media that he will be departing from the Iowa State program.
“Unfortunately, I will be entering my name into the transfer portal,” Biliew wrote in a statement posted to Instagram. “This was a very difficult decision.”
While the talented forward was welcomed by Cyclone fans during his time with the program, whom he also thanked in his statement, he did not see much time on the court.
Biliew appeared in 20 of Iowa State’s 37 games this season, averaging 7.4 minutes per game and 2.4 points per game. Outside of a 10-minute performance against Kansas State in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament, he had not played more than six minutes in a game since the Cyclones’ matchup with Prarie View A&M on Dec. 10.
Iowa State will also lose three other players who joined the team this season.
Saturday, Paveletzke was the first Cyclone to enter the transfer portal following the team’s Sweet 16 loss to Illinois on Thursday.
After transferring from Wofford following the previous season, Paveletzke saw fewer minutes with the Cyclones as the season went on. The Wisconsin native appeared in 33 games, averaging 10.5 minutes per game, but had only four games during Big 12 play with more than nine minutes.
The former Southern Conference Freshman of the Year averaged 3.4 points per game on 41.3% shooting from the field with the Cyclones during his sophomore season.
Paveletzke was later joined by Fish and Hamilton who also announced their intention to depart from Iowa State on Saturday.
Fish’s season was cut short in late December when it was announced that he would be getting left shoulder surgery, which would sideline him for the rest of the season. The Missouri native appeared in four games for the Cyclones, averaging 1.5 points per game on 40% shooting.
Hamilton was one of two players to redshirt for Iowa State this season, the other being JT Rock. The former three-star recruit was ranked as the ninth-best player out of Georgia from the 2023 class.
