Staff Directory

Pete Link

Title:
Director of Strength & Conditioning
Email:
Phone:
515-294-5998

Pete Link is in his 19th season at Iowa State and his sixth working on T.J. Otzelberger’s staff as the program's director of strength and conditioning. Link returned to Iowa State for the 2021-22 season after previously serving at the school in the same role from 2016-2020. Link also spent four seasons as the strength and conditioning coach for the Cyclone women's basketball team before moving to the men's side.

In his last five years at Iowa State, Link has helped the Cyclones to a 124-53 record and five trips to the NCAA Tournament. In Schmidt’s five years at ISU, the Cyclones are 63-11 in non-conference games. The 63 wins are the sixth-most in the country in that span, while the .851 winning percentage is the fourth-best in the nation. In the regular season, the 56 non-conference wins are the most in the country, while the .903 winning percentage is the second-best in the nation.

During Link's tenure (2016-20, 2021-present), five Cyclones have earned All-America honors and 28 student-athletes have been recognized on All-Big 12 teams. Most recently, Joshua Jefferson earned consensus second team All-America honors in 2025-26. In the 2024-25 season, Curtis Jones was named an AP All-American, while earning Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year and All-Big 12 First Team honors. Jefferson was named All-Big 12 Second Team and to the Big 12 All-Newcomer Team. Tamin Lipsey and Keshon Gilbert were named to the All-Big 12 Third Team, while Lipsey was also selected to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team.

While working with the Cyclone men during his first stint with the group, Link helped the Cyclones win 72 games and a pair of Big 12 Tournament titles. He assisted in the development of NBA lottery pick Tyrese Haliburton and future professionals Monté Morris, Nazareth Mitrou-Long, Deonte Burton, Matt Thomas, Marial Shayok and Talen Horton-Tucker, among others.

In 2025-26, Iowa State went 29-8 overall and 12-6 in the Big 12, finishing the year ranked No. 8 in the country, tied for the highest final ranking in program history. ISU has been ranked for 52-straight weeks, the fourth-longest streak in the nation and the second-longest streak in school history. The 29 wins are tied for the second-most in program history. The Cyclones started the year 16-0, the best start and longest winning streak in program history.

Jefferson became the fifth consensus All-American in program history, while also being one of five finalist for the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award. Drafted with the 28^th pick of the 2026 NBA Draft, Jefferson was a first round pick. Jefferson earned All-Big 12 First Team honors, while Tamin Lipsey and Milan Momcilovic were named to the All-Big 12 Second Team. All three were also named to the NABC All-Central District First Team. Momcilovic set the Iowa State single-season record for 3-pointers (136) and 3-point percentage (.487) was named a Top 5 finalist for the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award. Lipsey was named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team for the third time. Off the court, Lipsey was named to the Allstate NACDA Winter Good Works Team, while he was named the CSC Men’s Basketball Academic All-American of the Year after earning CSC Academic All-American honors for the third-straight year.

The 2024-25 Cyclones finished the year 25-10 overall and 13-7 in the Big 12 with an appearance in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Iowa State climbed to as high as No. 2 in the country in the AP Poll, the highest ranking in program history. ISU finished the season ranked No. 17 in the AP Top 25, the 12th time in program history the Cyclones have been ranked in the final poll. Iowa State ended the season in the AP Top 25 for the 32nd-straight week, the seventh-longest streak in the country. The Cyclones ended the season with four Top 25 victories, tied for the 10th-most in program history.

In 2023-24 the Cyclones won the Big 12 Championship and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. The Cyclones finished with a 29-8 overall record and a 13-5 league record, the second-most wins in school history. The 37 games played are tied for the most in program history. The Cyclones went a perfect 18-0 at Hilton Coliseum, the fifth undefeated year in the building's history. Iowa State had seven Top 25 victories on the year, including two wins over Houston when it was ranked No. 1 and No. 2 and a victory over No. 7 Kansas.

The 2022-23 Cyclones finished 19-14 on the year and 9-9 in the Big 12. Iowa State advanced to the NCAA Tournament and the Big 12 Championship semifinals, while also playing in the championship game of the Phil Knight Invitational in November. Iowa State opened the year with a 13-2 record, with the only losses coming to eventual National Champion UConn in the PKI Championship and at Iowa. Over the first 15 games of the year, the Cyclones knocked off No. 1 North Carolina, No. 12 Baylor and No. 17 TCU.

Iowa State led the nation with six wins over AP Top 10 schools. The Cyclones were one of two teams to have eight or more wins against AP Top 25 teams, as Texas (10) and Iowa State (9) led the country. The nine AP Top 25 victories are tied for the most in school history in a season.

In 2021-22, the Cyclones grabbed the nation's attention by improving by 20 wins and finishing 22-13 overall and advancing to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.

With a focus on ball pressure and toughness, Iowa State quickly became one of the nation's best defensive teams. The Cyclones finished fifth nationally in defensive efficiency, while also ranking 22nd nationally in scoring defense (62.5) and 11th in 3-point field goal defense (28.9).

The 2018-19 Cyclones reached the NCAA Tournament after winning the Big 12 Tournament for the second time in Link's first four seasons with the program. ISU finished 23-12 overall, winning six games against Top 25 teams, including road wins against nationally ranked Texas Tech, Ole Miss and Kansas State.

Four Cyclones captured All-Big 12 accolades with Shayok being named a first-team selection and later an All-American.

In his first season working with the men, Iowa State went 24-11 overall, won the Big 12 Tournament and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2016-17. The Cyclones also finished 12-6 in Big 12 Conference play, which included a win at No. 3 Kansas to snap its 51-game win streak at Allen Fieldhouse.

Morris earned All-America honors and was an All-Big 12 first-team pick in 2017, while three other Cyclones also earned all-conference honors.

Link has spent the majority of his professional career working for the Cyclones. He has worked with football, men’s and women’s hoops, and a number of ISU's Olympic sports programs.

While working with the Cyclone women’s basketball program, Link saw the team advance to the NCAA Tournament in three of his four seasons. He developed and monitored all physical preparation workouts and constructed individual workouts based on each athlete’s needs.

Link worked closely with the men’s program in October and November of 2015 on an interim basis and traveled with the Cyclone men to Spain in August of that year.

Before being named Iowa State’s assistant director of strength and conditioning for Olympic sports in 2008, Link was a graduate assistant strength coach at Utah. Link served on Otzelberger’s staff at UNLV during the 2020-21 season.

The Farley, Iowa, native earned his bachelor of science in health and human performance from Iowa State in 2007. As an undergrad he was an intern with the Iowa State football team, the Iowa Cubs and Iowa State’s Olympic sports programs.

Link holds the following certifications First Aid/CPR/AED, CSCS (Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist), RSCC (Registered Strength and Conditioning Coach) and Pn1 (Precision Nutrition Level 1).

Link, and his wife, Jade, reside in Ankeny with their son, Kai.