The Iowa State Cyclones men’s basketball team has had a lot of wins this offseason, but their first loss was suffered recently.Four-star forward Jackson Kiss, a member of their Class of 2026, was released from his signing with the program and de-committed. Shortly after that occurred, it was revealed that he was flipping his commitment to the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels.Listed at 6-foot-7 and 230 pounds, he drew some comparisons to Joshua Jefferson, someone who can impact the game on both ends of the floor with a high ceiling. A native of New Zealand, he has been playing with Utah Prep since coming stateside.The No. 116-ranked player in the Class of 2026, this is a sizable loss in the Class of 2026. The Cyclones will assuredly drop in the rankings, as they have three more players: four-star guard Christian Wiggins and two three-star players in guard Yusef Gray Jr. and center Dorian Rinaldo-Komlan.Jackson Kiss leaving Iowa State for UNLVJan 4, 2025; Gilbert, AZ, USA; Utah Prep Academy forward Jackson Kiss (4) against Faith Family Academy (TX) during the Hoophall West High School Invitational at Highland High School. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn ImagesHearing the news, it is fair to feel some disappointment that a four-star player is no longer going to be part of the program. Kiss averaged 9.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 14 games across the Nike EYBL Scholastic League this past season, per Bill Seals of Cyclone Report (subscription required), so they are losing a player with some upside.However, his departure isn’t one that Iowa State is going to feel much, if at all. When taking a look at the team’s depth chart, Kiss was likely looking at an impossible route to playing time and a redshirt year for the 2026-27 season.Unless he totally blew away the coaching staff during offseason workouts and training camp, he was going to be buried deep on the bench. The Cyclones have Blake Buchanan and Dominykas Pleta returning in the front court and added several players in the transfer portal in the frontcourt.Tre Singleton and Taj Manning were signed. Head coach T.J. Otzelberger recently revealed that the plan is for all of the transfers to be a part of the rotation, which certainly would have put Kiss behind the eight-ball.While Manning has only one year of eligibility remaining, Singleton has three. Seeing a former top-100 recruit, who will be part of the program for years to come, who plays his position and was viewed as a Jefferson replacement, certainly could have changed how Kiss viewed his spot with Iowa State.Seeing news of a recruit de-committing from a program is never a great thing, but in this instance, it should not hurt the Cyclones all too much. They have plenty of depth on the roster for the 2026-27 season and could look to add another player to the Class of 2026 or shift focus in the Class of 2027 to find another frontcourt player.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow