The grueling rotation of conditioning, countless shots and communication are all frequent in the off-season workouts for Iowa State men’s basketball. In fact, the men’s basketball team Instagram account has shown the team playing tennis, hooverball, pickleball and dodgeball this summer. Jamarion Batemon was asked about what made Iowa State special as a team right away in the summer, and he gave a response that ties into the big reason behind Iowa State playing other sports in the summer. “The amount of time we invest in each other, we make sure we invest in team meals, make sure we eat together and have team activities,” Batemon said. This is important because off-season team activities also build trust and support outside of basketball.