AMES – In the new era of college athletics with the transfer portal, roster turnover is the new normal. Iowa State, while having a lot of returning pieces, still brought in four experienced transfers and a talented freshman to help supplement its roster. 

With an already talented roster coming back, these additions could be what puts the Cyclones over the top. 

Here’s a look at all five of Iowa State’s new players.

Brandton Chatfield: Redshirt senior, Seattle, Washington State 

Chatfield is a 6-foot, 10-inch forward who played at Washington State for two seasons before transferring to Seattle for the past three seasons. Now, Chatfield will be at Iowa State for his final season.

Chatfield brings a lot of experience to the Cyclones, starting in 87 games over his three seasons at Seattle and is coming off of his best season. Chatfield averaged 9.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game in 23.5 minutes a game. He also shot a team-high 60.1% from the field and was second on the team in blocks with 30. 

“I felt like I did a pretty good job in helping us win there,” Chatfield said. 

With one year of eligibility remaining, Chatfield had a choice to make on where he wanted to spend his last year, and the Iowa State coaches won him over in the end. 

“The coaching staff, they were just awesome,” Chatfield said. “All the values that they preached and everything, really resonated with me.”

Chatfield prepares to bring even more physicality to the already physical Cyclones this year.

“It’s a bigger, stronger conference, so I can still be my physical self, maybe even a little bit more,” Chatfield said.

Nate Heise – Redshirt senior, Northern Iowa (UNI)

Heise is another player that brings a lot of experience to the Cyclones. At 6-foot 5-inches tall, the former UNI guard started in 85 games during his time as a Panther, and that number would have been much larger if he had not missed all but two games in the 2022-23 season with a hand injury.  

Last season, Heise was a standout at UNI. He led the Panthers in scoring with 13.4 points per game on 46.2% shooting from the field and 35.6% from three-point range. He also led the team in minutes played per game (32.9), assists per game (2.4) and blocks (18). 

Heise says that there were planets of factors that went into the decision to stay in-state and transfer to Iowa State. 

“Coach Green, Coach Crawford, they were at UNI when I was there and just every part about it,” Heise said. “The guys on the team, a lot of them are coming back with high expectations and a great college town, so a lot of those went into it.”

With everything Heise has shown on the court in his career, it would be shocking if he was not an immediate positive to this Iowa State team. 

“He’s been a huge positive for us and we’re gonna continue to demand that it stays true going forward,” Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger said. 

Dishon Jackson – Redshirt senior, Charlotte, Washington State

Jackson, just like Chatfield and Heise, brings a lot of experience to this roster. Jackson is a 6-foot, 11-inch center who spent three seasons at Washington State and one season at Charlotte before transferring to Iowa State for his final season. 

At Washington State, Jackson appeared in 49 games in his freshman and sophomore seasons before missing the 2022-23 season with undisclosed medical issues, but in his lone season at Charlotte, he was a standout. 

Jackson started in all 30 games he appeared in his last season with Charlotte, averaging 11.4 points, 6.1 points, 1.7 assists, 0.9 blocks and 0.6 steals. 

“I think I played as best I could every game, but I think I went out to give my all every night,” Jackson said. 

Jackson had multiple options coming out of Charlotte but chose Iowa State because it gave him a chance to win. 

“Those guys are very serious,” Jackson said. “They reached out to me on day one of me being in the portal and they had the most winning culture.”

As far as what Jackson brings to the table for this season’s squad, he said he just wants to do anything to help the team win. 

“I think I’m bringing some toughness to the team. I think these guys appreciate what I bring to the table and I’m just trying to fit in as fast as I can,” Jackson said. 

Joshua Jefferson – Junior, Saint Mary’s

Jefferson is a 6-foot, 9-inch forward who spent two seasons at Saint Mary’s before transferring to Iowa State. 

Last season, Jefferson started in the first 26 games of the season before suffering a season-ending leg injury. Before he went down, he averaged 10.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. 

After the season, Jefferson decided to transfer to somewhere he was familiar with. 

“I already had a pre-existing relationship with T.J. [Otzelberger], so that also played a big part of it,” Jefferson said. “It was just what felt the most comfortable and the most right for me.”

“We’re fortunate to have some background in previous stuff,” Otzelberger said. “We had recruited him and had a relationship with him, so we knew of his character.”

While he is set to be the only transfer who will still be at Iowa State after this season, he is looking forward to making a big impact immediately.

“I think I’m a pretty good playmaker,” Jefferson said. “Making shots for our shooters is what I’m gonna try to do.”

Nojus Indrusaitis – Freshman 

Indrusaitis is the only freshman on Iowa State’s squad this season, but he has plenty of potential. 

The 6-foot, 5-inch Chicago native was a consensus four-star and top-100 recruit as a guard. He played his senior season at known basketball powerhouse Brewster Academy in New Hampshire, which was the home of former Cyclone star Melvin Ejim.

At Brewster, Indrusaitis averaged 16 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals per game en route to winning New Hampshire Gatorade Player of the Year. 

Coming out of high school, Indrusaitis was known as an offensive star who could score at all three levels, but he says he chose to become a Cyclone because they would help him improve in other aspects of the game.

“Most people would say that my negative is defense and this program really pushes me to play defense, so I feel like they allow me to get better as a player,” Indrusaitis said. 

It’s not clear where Indrusaitis will fit into this roster that’s full of experienced veterans, but he is willing to do whatever he can to help the team win.

“I’m competing, just trying to help us win,” Indrusaitis said. “I’ll do whatever it takes to be honest.”