Blake Buchanan goes from March Madness ballboy to Iowa State starting center | Hines

ST. LOUIS – Blake Buchanan wasn’t really much of a basketball guy. Even though he was tall for his age, the 6th-grader was much more fixated on football and his potential future in that sport.

Still, when the University of Idaho, where his mother, Debbie, was the head volleyball coach, hosted the first and second rounds of the 2016 NCAA Tournament in Spokane, Wash., it presented him with a roundball opportunity.

He got to be ballboy throughout the competitions. Buchanan witnessed No. 13 seed Hawaii upset No. 4 Cal and its star Jaylen Brown. He was on hand for South Dakota State, one year before it hired an assistant from Iowa State to be its head coach, facing off against Maryland. He also saw his beloved Oregon Ducks, his favorite program as a youngster, cruise into the Sweet 16.

One recollection from those days, though, remains clearest.

“I got to take a photo with the Oregon cheerleaders,” Buchanan said. “That was a good memory.”

Buchanan may have supplanted that March Madness memory with a new No. 1 as he helped his No. 2-seed Iowa State team to a 108-74 first-round victory over Tennessee State on March 20.

It was the first career Big Dance win for Buchanan, who played in the First Four two seasons ago while at Virginia, suffering a 67-42 loss to Colorado State in Dayton.

Before all that, though, he was just a middle-schooler with his older brother and a handful of friends who had the run of Spokane Arena.

“It was super cool being out here with the guys, just getting to shoot on the court at the time,” Buchanan said. “It’s pretty cool to experience, and (now) finally be here myself.”

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Mar 20, 2026; St. Louis, MO, USA; Iowa State Cyclones forward Joshua Jefferson (5) is helped off of the court after suffering an apparent injury to his left leg while shooting a layup against Tennessee State Tigers forward Jalen Pitre (not pictured) during the first half of a first round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Le-Imagn Images

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The latest experience included Buchanan dropping eight assists against the Tigers, making him just the fifth player 6-foot-10 or taller to record that high of a tally in an NCAA Tournament game. He flirted with a triple-double, adding 11 points and seven rebounds to his stat line as well. This season he averaged 8.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game while shooting 64.1 percent for the 28-win Cyclones, who play Kentucky on March 22 (1:45 p.m. CT; CBS) in the second round.

Buchanan eventually grew to 6-foot-10, so perhaps a future on the gridiron over the hardcourt was never going to materialize, but in maybe a small way the NCAA Tournament coming to that western outpost may have helped push Buchana toward basketball. And, eventually, to becoming a critical piece of a Cyclones team with Final Four aspirations.

“At the time, I didn’t know I wanted to play college basketball,” Buchanan said. “I wasn’t as intrigued, but now looking back, it was cool.

“I just liked being there.”

And, now, he’s here, back at the tournament and at the center of the Cyclones’ chances to advance.

Iowa State columnist Travis Hines has covered the Cyclones for the Des Moines Register and Ames Tribune since 2012. Contact him at  thines@amestrib.com  or (515) 284-8000 . F ollow him on X at @TravisHines21 .

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Blake Buchanan goes from NCAA Tournament ballboy to player | Hines