Jun. 18—Nate Heise, a former Lake City basketball star, is living in Ames, Iowa, after having completed his fifth and final season of college basketball at Iowa State. His next move will be to play professionally in Europe.
POST BULLETIN: What have you been up to since the season ended?
NATE HEISE: I took a couple of weeks off and went on a trip to Mexico and one to California, and went on a golf trip with some old buddies from high school.
You're still living in Ames. What's that like?
I'm still really close with all of the coaches and I go watch them some, and I am working out, doing lifting and basketball workouts. I'm not doing as much as I would if I were still on the team. I'm not at that level. But I am staying in shape.
Do you have professional basketball aspirations?
Yeah, playing overseas next season is the goal. I've been meeting with some teams but I won't know for sure where I'll be playing for another month or so. But I am looking more at Western Europe, like Germany, Austria, France and Poland.
How eager are you to play pro ball?
It sounds good to me. I really enjoy playing basketball still, and I like the traveling aspect that would come with this. To be able to play a bit longer is intriguing to me. But I don't anticipate doing it for more than two or four years.
What was it like to be in the midst of playing in the NCAA Tournament while your older sister Taylor was playing hockey in the Olympics, ultimately winning a gold medal?
It was really a blessing to be able to watch her playing during the most important part of her life. It took my mind off of my games and the intensity of what I had going on, being able to sit down and watch her play. She had some really special moments in her games, scoring some goals, and I had some really cool moments in my games.
I'm guessing the biggest personal highlight for you was when you knocked down that 3-pointer from the left corner against No. 2-ranked Houston, with just 1:18 left and only 1 second showing on the shot clock. That put you up 69-67 and left you up for good. What was that like?
Yeah, that was my best highlight. It was a top-five matchup (Iowa State was ranked fifth) and making that shot was really cool. It was cool with so many watching back home and it was cool for my parents (who were in Italy at the time watching Taylor) to watch it the next day. That game was in the middle of the night in Italy.
What was it like on the Iowa State campus, with so many paying attention to what your Cyclones were doing in the national tournament and so many keeping track of Taylor and the U.S. women's hockey team at the same time?
On campus, there was a lot of media around that wanted to get that story, because we were both playing at such high levels at that stage. And I'd have people at our games saying, "Hey, did you see your sister score today?" Because of her, a lot of Iowa State fans were watching the hockey and were really locked in on it. I'd say what the men's and women's teams did in the Olympics (both winning gold) was the highlight of the Olympics."
You transferred from Northern Iowa to Iowa State for your final season of basketball. Are you glad you did?
It was a really satisfying way to wrap up my college career, playing that fifth season at Iowa State. The way it panned out, with that Houston game, it was an amazing experience playing in the NCAA Tournament. I played some of my best basketball of the year in that tournament, and playing in the Sweet 16 (a 76-62 loss to Tennessee) was a perfect way to wrap it up. I made some friendships with teammates and coaches on that team that will be with me for life.
How much did you appreciate your Iowa State coach, T.J. Otzelberger?
A lot. He really creates relationships with us guys. For example, I'm going to lunch with him tomorrow even though he has all of this stuff in his life. He puts so much into each and every guy on the team. It's kind of a business for a lot of coaches. But for him, it is more about making it a family. He's really good at reading people and knowing what they need at that time.
