PEORIA — The Bradley Braves lost a piece of their men’s basketball coaching staff to Iowa State on Friday.
Braves assistant coach Allan Hanson joined the Cyclones after one season on the Hilltop, following Bradley point guard Jaquan Johnson.
He’ll coach under Iowa State’s T.J. Otzelberger, whose team went 29-8 and tied for the second-most wins in school history in 2025-26. The Cyclones finished the season ranked No. 8 in the AP Top 25 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 for the eighth time in program history.
“I am extremely excited to join T.J. Otzelberger’s staff at Iowa State,” Hanson said. “I look forward to helping continue to build the success the program has had, both on and off the court. I am grateful for this opportunity.”
Hanson joined the Braves men’s basketball program for the 2025-26 season after spending the past four seasons with the Southern Utah University Thunderbirds in the same assistant role.
He was part of Bradley‘s 21-13 campaign and trip to the NIT.
“Al is a really good guy that is all about team, and relates well with the players,” Bradley head coach Brian Wardle said. “T.J. does a great job at Iowa State and it is really cool that two of our guys are at a program that will contend for national championships.”
Before coaching at Southern Utah, Hanson worked as an assistant coach at Western Illinois under Rob Jeter, who was also his college head coach.
In 2019, Hanson led Nicolet High School to a WIAA state championship as head coach. Over three seasons at Nicolet, he compiled a 117–37 record, and his 2019 team was ranked seventh nationally by USA TODAY.
Welcome to Ames, Allan Hanson!
📰: https://t.co/GsJF9kybmg#Cyclones | #C5Cpic.twitter.com/KCFBubwGMp
— Iowa State Men’s Basketball (@CycloneMBB) April 24, 2026
Hanson’s coaching resume includes time at UW-Milwaukee, where he served as director of basketball operations in 2015 and video coordinator in 2014.
He also played collegiately at UW-Milwaukee from 2004 to 2008, contributing to two NCAA Tournament appearances, including a Sweet 16 run, while playing under Rob Jeter.
“Allan Hanson will be an incredible resource for the young men in our program,” Otzelberger said. “He’s a competitor, proven winner and someone who takes tremendous pride in student-athletes realizing their potential. We look forward to him impacting our pressure defensive system as well as working with our point guards.”
(This story has been updated to add more reaction)
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star senior writer and sports columnist, and covers Bradley men’s basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Bradley men’s basketball assistant coach leaves for Iowa State