Iowa State’s Izaiah Brockington is one of three Penn State transfers looking to reach their ‘full potential’ in the Big Dance

After spending three seasons playing for two schools and making gradual improvement in his game, Izaiah Brockington pondered his future while Penn State was making a coaching change.

Would the former Archbishop Ryan star remain in Happy Valley rather than start over at a third stop? He initially checked out his options in the NCAA transfer portal, then decided to withdraw his name and return to the Nittany Lions.

He would change his mind, eventually taking his talents to Iowa State, a team that finished with only two victories (2-22) the previous year. The Cyclones had hired a new coach, T.J. Otzelberger, who was looking to stock the roster with guys who were committed to revitalizing the Cyclones program.

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The move worked. A 6-foot-4 senior, Brockington earned first-team All-Big 12 honors and was named the conference’s Newcomer of the Year. He averaged career highs of 17.2 points and 7.1 rebounds in helping lead the Cyclones to a 20-12 record, an 18-win improvement from the year before, best in Big 12 history. The Cyclones, who qualified for the NCAA Tournament as an 11 seed, will face off with No. 6 seed LSU on Friday in Milwaukee (7:20 p.m. on TBS).

“I felt like initially I was hesitant to transfer again to a third school and start over with people that I didn’t know and things like that,” Brockington said last week in a telephone interview. “I feel like that fear of the unknown and the fear of public perception really just kind of made me commit to coming back to Penn State without really giving it full thought and full consideration.

“Really looking at the position that I would be in at that school, I just felt like I wouldn’t be able to reach my full potential as a player and being able to have the role that I ultimately wanted in college by staying. I felt that basketball-wise, I could have a better opportunity elsewhere to really show all of what I could do as a player as a leader.”

Brockington, who played his first year in college at St. Bonaventure, wasn’t the only Nittany Lion to take off after interim head coach Jim Ferry was replaced by former Purdue assistant Micah Shrewsberry on March 15, 2021. Guards Jamari Wheeler and Myreon Jones, who with Brockington played in all 25 games the previous season, headed to Ohio State and Florida, respectively, and three reserve players also departed.

Guard Rasir Bolton, who left Penn State following the 2018-19 season over a racially charged comment made to him by then-coach Patrick Chambers, landed at top-ranked Gonzaga this season – starting all 29 games and averaging 11.2 points entering the NCAA Tournament — after two seasons at Iowa State.

Brockington and Wheeler also will be playing this week in the NCAA Tournament. The pair thought they would play in the 2020 dance after the Nittany Lions compiled a 20-11 record against tough Big Ten competition, only to have the NCAA announce on March 12 that the event would be cancelled because of the rapidly spreading COVID-19 virus.

Brockington, who said he felt he was “more along for the ride” when accompanying St. Bonaventure to the 2019 NCAA tournament, was devastated.

“All that work that we had put in planning to make some noise in the tournament that year, for it to be ended by something so crazy, something that we couldn’t control, something that was once in a lifetime, it really hurt,” he said. “Ever since that day, I’ve been clawing and fighting to get back.

“It would mean a lot just because if we made it, I’d feel really accomplished. I’d feel like, man, I really was able to lead my team to the biggest stage.”

Brockington finished fourth in the Big 12 in scoring and third in rebounding, was fifth in field-goal percentage (46.9%) among guards and sixth in free-throw percentage (77.3%). He averaged 34.5 minutes per game, second in the league.

In speaking with Brockington about joining the Cyclones, Otzelberger, who had been an assistant for seven years in Ames before head coaching stints at South Dakota State and UNLV, questioned him about his daily work habits and what was expected of him if he came. He remembered the player’s reply: “I’ll be the hardest-working guy every day.

“He’s honored that,” he said. “As a coach, you can always instill confidence in a guy that’s going to bring that type of effort. So he wanted more of the spotlight in terms of being an impact guy, being a first option, a go-to guy, and he’s stepped up, not just in the games but every single day in practice to be that guy for us.”

“I came here to win, first and foremost, and that kind of drove me to bring energy every time I’m on the court — practice or games. My competitiveness just keeps me going and that’s what really drives me day-in and day-out, wanting to see this team succeed, wanting to bring this program back to prominence in the league and in the country.”

Wheeler, a two-time All-Big Ten selection on defense with Penn State, started 28 games as Ohio State’s point guard, averaging 7.4 points per game and leading the team in assists (3.0) and steals (1.3) while shooting 40.7% from the three-point arc. Ohio State, a No. 7 seed, will play No. 10 seed Loyola-Chicago in Pittsburgh on Friday (12:15 p.m. on CBS).

Wheeler had known Ferry since the coach recruited him to Duquesne in 2017, and then followed him to Penn State when he joined Chambers’ staff. When Ferry was not retained for the 2021-22 season, Wheeler departed after four seasons with the Lions.

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“I’m a big guy on loyalty,” Wheeler told the Columbus Dispatch. “He’s one of the guys that started recruiting me early and we built that bond and I trusted him. I felt like if he were there, we could’ve rocked things out. But things happen for a reason and I’m glad I’m here now.”

Meanwhile, Penn State finished 14-17 in Shrewsberry’s first season at the helm with a largely re-tooled roster. This year’s NCAA Tournament won’t feature Penn State but in Brockington, Wheeler and Bolton, the tournament will be well represented when it comes to former Nittany Lions.