Nate Heise might be the perfect role player for Iowa State basketball

When then-Northern Iowa guard finished his fourth season with the Panthers, he had nothing but positive things to say about his time in Cedar Falls.

Inside him, however, was a desire to do something bigger.

"I wanted to play in arguably the best conference," Heise said.

With one year of eligibility left, Heise entered the transfer portal and was contacted within an hour by the coaching staff at Iowa State, a group that Heise had a lot of familiarity with. Assistant coach Kyle Green and director of player development Erik Crawford were both at Heise's last stop before taking jobs at Iowa State.

That made it an easy decision for Heise when he got the call from Ames.

"It's been awesome," Heise said. "The last couple years, I haven't had (Green an Crawford) and the daily banter and communication has been something I've missed the last two years."

Returning players from last season have said during these summer workouts, which began in mid-June, that they feel bad for the newcomers having to adjust to what is a physical, draining practice environment at the Sukup Basketball Complex.

Of seven new additions on the roster, Heise might be the one adjusting best.

"He's strong. He's hard to get by, so he's really good defender," sophomore Milan Momcilovic said. "He'll play a lot with that four-guard lineup. He could play some at the four (power forward) too, so a big body. On the offensive side, good player. He can shoot the ball, knocks down shots. Get to the hoop. He's a really good player."

That versatile skillset makes Heise's addition so interesting for the Cyclones.

In his time at UNI, Heise went from role player early on to a main offensive option by his final season. With Iowa State having Tamin Lipsey, Keshon Gilbert, Momcilovic and more, Heise won't be relied upon to be a main offensive threat, but he has shown that capability by averaging 13.5 points per game last season for UNI.

Heise's positional versatility will allow him to slide into several positions in the lineup. Defensively, he's nimble enough to take on a point guard while physical and strong enough to guard some power forwards as well. On offense, he doesn't require the ball in his hands to be effective and can keep the ball moving to open opportunities for Lipsey, Gilbert and others.

If everything goes to plan for Iowa State, Heise will be the ultimate role player. He can slide into any lineup alongside Cyclone stars while taking top assignments on defense when called upon. In the event of injuries, Heise is an immediate plug-and-play guy who can keep lineups afloat.

At a minimum, head coach T.J. Otzelberger sees Heise as a winning influence for the Cyclones.

"Regardless of what they (transfers) scored or what they were asked to do at their last stop, we’re going to put them in position to be successful in our program," Otzelberger said. "Nate brings a lot to the table. There's a lot of things that he does that impacts winning."

Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23