Lake City's Nate Heise enters transfer portal in search of a new challenge

Mar. 20—LAKE CITY — Nate Heise is looking for a new challenge.

The Lake City native has played men's basketball the last four seasons at the University of Northern Iowa, a Division I school in Cedar Falls, Iowa. On Monday, Heise announced he is entering the transfer portal.

"It's all pretty new and schools are starting to reach out and I'm just in the preliminary stages of everything," Heise said. "Just hearing everybody out and getting a feel for what the best fit would be."

Heise, 6-foot-5 guard, has played for the last four years at Northern Iowa and will transfer as a graduate student. But he still has two years of eligibility remaining due to a COVID-19 season and a medical redshirt season. During the 2022-23 season, he played just two games due to a finger injury. He plans on playing two more seasons "unless something drastic happens."

Heise said he is keeping his options open and doesn't necessarily have a specific location in mind. But he would like to land in a power-five conference.

"Definitely a part of it, and looking for the next challenge," he said of going to a bigger conference. "I've been here for four years and that was my commitment, to be here for four (years) and then just look for a new opportunity and a new challenge."

Part of his process will be looking for a school with a strong business program. He is getting his undergrad degree in supply chain management and wants to get a Master's in business administration.

He doesn't have a timetable for making a decision, but said it could come in the next two weeks. The process could be slowed because more than 100 teams are preparing for the NCAA, NIT and CBI tournaments this week.

Heise made a big impact at Northern Iowa. He bounced back from his injury a year ago to earn Third Team All-Missouri Valley Conference honors during the 2023-24 season. He was also selected to the MVC Scholar-Athlete Second Team for a second straight season.

On the court, he averaged a team-high 13.5 points per game, while collecting 6.1 rebounds and a team-best 2.4 assists per game. He was asked to play more of a point guard role and did more ball handling this season. He was pleased with his overall performance.

"It went well," Heise said. "It was a different role and there was definitely a learning curve to that, and having the ball in my hands a lot more was a lot of fun."

Heise thought part of his growth on the court during the 2023-24 season was to have more of a shooter's mentality of not dwelling on a missed shot.

"Sometimes it wasn't easy," he said. "And I also think to balance having more of an offensive role and to continue to focus on defense as well. Offensively (I was) just trying to have a lot of confidence and keep trying to play the game the right way."

Heise said he was very appreciative of Northern Iowa for giving him the opportunity to play at the university.

"There's a lot of different things that I know now that I didn't know then," he said. "I grew a lot and have only great things to say about my time at UNI."

Heise's younger brother, Ryan, was a freshman for the Upper Iowa University men's basketball team in 2023-24. His older sister, Taylor, is a former University of Minnesota women's hockey standout who currently plays for PWHL Minnesota of the Professional Women's Hockey League.