Mar 27, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach T.J. Otzelberger speaks with the referee during the first half against the Tennessee Volunteers during a Sweet Sixteen game of the Midwest Regional of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at United Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images
About 48 hours ago, my expectations were to write a men’s basketball column similar to the one I wrote for the women’s team a week ago. The plan was to outline some holes of the previous iteration of the Cyclones and share how the team could fill them during the offseason. Well, that plan was foiled in a hurry as T.J. Otzelberger went with his own plan before I could even publish mine (rude).
Since he does not want to listen to me, the best I have to offer is a breakdown of why next year’s squad has the blueprint to be just as good.
The most important factor in the team’s ceiling was always going to be whether or not sniper Milan Momcilovic returns. In the absence of Tamin Lipsey and Joshua Jefferson, Momcilovic was going to be tasked with being the roster’s consistent 20-point scorer if he decided to wait a year before heading to the NBA. Well, we got our answer Sunday, as Momcilovic announced he was focusing on the NBA Draft, and also entering his name in the transfer portal.
There does not seem to be some nefarious reason for Momcilovic hitting the portal. Seemingly, Momcilovic needs time to see if he has a spot in the NBA warmed up for him, and Otzelberger could not leave the millions of NIL dollars in an envelope in his mailbox waiting for him to come home.
In the meantime of Momcilovic’s pending decision, Otzelberger did his best to construct a team that can win without him. The Cyclones landed commitments from transfers Leon Bond (Northern Iowa), Taj Manning (Kansas State), Jaquan Johnson (Bradley), Tre Singleton (Northwestern) and Ryan Prather Jr. (Robert Morris).
Even after losing seniors Lipsey and Nate Heise, the backcourt group still filled out quite nicely. In addition to returning contributors Jamarion Batemon and Killyan Toure, Johnson, Prather and incoming freshmen Christian Wiggins and Yusef Gray Jr. make for a great cast.
Johnson is perhaps one of the most promising of the transfers in the 2026-27 season, averaging 17 points, 4 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.5 steals in his sophomore season. He may be undersized at just 5-foot-11, but he plays with a lot of heart, similarly to Lipsey.
Prather is also a point guard, albeit a much different one with a six-foot-five frame. He averaged 15.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.6 assists while leading the nation in assist to turnover ratio.
It would also not be surprising to see at least one of Wiggins or Gray take on a spark-plug role off the bench similar to what Batemon played this season. Wiggins was Minnesota’s second highest ranked recruit on 247Sports, and Gray was Wisconsin’s top recruit. The two have a ton of talent and the opportunity to go out and grab minutes is there.
Forward depth was a weak point this year in all honesty. After Momcilovic and Jefferson, the only other minute-getters on the squad were guards and centers. Otzelberger made it work with effective minute spacing of Jefferson, Momcilovic and the centers, but life is a lot easier when you can throw different forward looks at teams. Every team has backup guards and bigs that can get it done; however, having forward depth gives you so many more strategic options as a coach.
Adding Leon Bond, who is almost a carbon copy of Heise both in terms of frame, statistics and former university, is massive for the Cyclones. Singleton will be a sophomore with years of eligibility to his name, so if the Cyclones did strike gold in getting him on board, they will reap the benefits for a long time. Manning is the one commitment that is tough to get a read on. At 6-foot-7, he has some solid tools including his rebounding ability, but he was not given a fair shake at Kansas State and his four-point and five-rebound average certainly does not jump off the page given the lack of talent on the Wildcat roster this year.
The center position is pretty cut and dry. With Blake Buchanan and Dom Pleta returning for another season, those will be the two names battling for the starting and backup jobs. Pleta’s progression is exciting, as he already took major strides in confidence and strength during the year, so the offseason presents an even longer opportunity to grow.
The one worry I do hold for next year’s roster is continued free throw struggles. Poor free throw shooting cost the Cyclones multiple games, and I am not fully confident the case will be significantly improved next year, especially in Momcilovic’s absence.
You can check out an in-depth look at each one of Iowa State’s transfer additions on the Cyclone Fanatic site from the great Jackson Pence. As everything was going perfectly in terms of weekend portal news, it became apparent that one storm cloud could still bring a gloomy day.
