1 transfer portal target Iowa State basketball must sign to get over Final Four hump

After another disappointing March Madness result, Iowa State entered the 2026 college basketball transfer portal with crystal clear goals. The Cyclones’ predictable approach was repeatedly exposed down the stretch and ultimately led to their demise, a pattern that head coach T.J. Otzelberger has repeatedly succumbed to in the postseason.

Despite turning Iowa State into one of the best regular season teams in the country, Otzelberger’s NCAA Tournament struggles are a recurring theme in Ames. The Cyclones have earned a top-four seed in three consecutive seasons but have yet to get past the Sweet Sixteen in the Otzelberger era.

The defensive-minded head coach has never been hyper-aggressive in the transfer portal, but he has made that a clear priority in 2026. He was given no choice after losing Joshua Jefferson, Milan Momcilovic, Tamin Lipsey and Nate Heise.

Otzelberger’s 2026 transfer portal class includes a pair of mid-major stars in Ryan Prather Jr. and Jaquan Johnson, in addition to former Northwestern forward Tre Singleton and ex-Kansas State big man Taj Manning.

The early returns are a positive sign, but Iowa State has yet to truly address its biggest need. While the Cyclones had multiple roster holes to address, Tennessee exposed their biggest flaw in the NCAA Tournament. The burly Volunteers bullied Otzelberger’s undersized team into submission, gaining a 12-point advantage in points in the paint and winning the rebound battle by 21.

Iowa State’s 2026 college basketball transfer portal class would go from good to great if it can address its dire interior needs by signing former Arizona State center Massamba Diop.

Iowa State needs to target C Massamba Diop

As good as Iowa State was defensively inside — it allowed just 27.1 points in the paint per game, tied for 29th in the country — its roster lacked size all year. The Cyclones relied on swarming the paint and pinching opposing big men to defend, but teams with deep interior rotations routinely exploited the physical mismatch.

Otzelberger needs depth, but he also needs a strong paint presence. Starting center Blake Buchanan is set to return, but that should not dissuade Iowa State from pursuing Massamba Diop, the best available big man in the 2026 college basketball transfer portal.

The 7-foot-1 Diop dazzled in his freshman season at Arizona State, averaging 13.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game in 2025-2026. His per-game block numbers tied St. John’s star Zuby Ejiofor for the eighth-most by any power conference player.

As one of the most athletic big men in the country, Diop’s natural feel around the basket improved as the season progressed, as did his perimeter shooting. He ended the season hitting 30.8 percent of his three-pointers, with five of his eight made triples coming in the final two months of the year.

Adding Diop as the leader of a revamped interior rotation would be precisely what the doctor ordered after the embarrassing way Iowa State bowed out in the Sweet Sixteen. Diop’s versatility would allow him to potentially start alongside Buchanan, with Dominykas Pleta behind them.

Diop is among the top sophomore breakout stars ahead of the 2026-2027 college basketball season and would be the ideal versatile center to add to Iowa State’s new-look roster. Although not a direct replacement for either Jefferson or Momcilovic, two nearly irreplaceable players, the 21-year-old Senegalese should be at the top of Otzelberger’s priority list.

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