Tim Buckley

AMES — Iowa State men’s basketball coach T.J. Otzelberger has named Tim Buckley as a new assistant coach, effective immediately.

Buckley replaces the vacancy created when Kyle Green left the Cyclones to take the head coaching position at Northern Iowa. Buckley was a member of Otzelberger’s staff at UNLV.

“A renowned coach in player development, I’m excited to have Tim join our staff at Iowa State,” Otzelberger said. “Tim brings a wealth of knowledge, both as a head coach and assistant coach. He has recruited and developed some of the top talents in the NBA. I’m thrilled that our student-athletes will get the opportunity to work with Tim.”

Buckley, a coaching veteran with over 30 years of experience, has been either a head or assistant coach for eight NCAA Tournament appearances, three NIT showings and a trip to the NBA Playoffs.

Most recently, Buckley spent the past two seasons at fellow Big 12 school Cincinnati. Prior to that, he was at South Carolina for two seasons, where he helped the Gamecocks to the 2024 NCAA Tournament and the most wins in the regular season in program history.

Buckley was on Otzelberger’s staff for both seasons at UNLV, while remaining in Las Vegas for one year on Kevin Kruger’s staff in 2021-22.

“I’m thankful for the opportunity to be reunited with T.J. Otzelberger,” Buckley said. “What he has done over the last five years is amazing. Iowa State is a nationally recognized program and I’m excited to be a part of it.”

Buckley has two different stints as a head coach in his career. He was the head coach at NCAA Division III Rockford (Ill.) from 1989-93 and was the head coach at Ball State from 2000-06.

Buckley has also spent time as an assistant coach at Indiana, Marquette, Iowa, Ball State, Wisconsin and Rockford.