**** Official 2026 MBB Spring Transfer Portal Thread ****

[JDHansen99]

Your Post:

Really don't like this. He looked like he could have been a premiere offensive player for us. Not sure the backstory but I'd rather have him than anyone visiting this weekend other than maybe Singleton. Going to have to pray Milan comes back...

Have you contacted TJ? I think we are still looking for another coach

Yes, based off tape/potential - I'd rather have him that the 4 visiting guards. Again, if it was purely TJs decision, I'm cool with that. We don't know.

Also notice how I said "not sure the backstory" - This isn't some hot take, just a personal opinion on whose tap/measurables I like more because after all, we've seen all of them play a combined 0 minutes for Iowa State.

No reason you gotta freak out over this lmao

 

[jarviswestfanclub]

At least three fiddy....

Budget was 5 million last year, most of that tied to the big three and only one of them is possibly returning. It's possible the budget increases due to sustained success and the whole deal with football and women's basketball. I'd say he has at least 2.5 million to spend on incoming transfers...more if Milan goes pro

 

[NENick]

Yes, based off tape/potential - I'd rather have him that the 4 visiting guards. Again, if it was purely TJs decision, I'm cool with that. We don't know.

Also notice how I said "not sure the backstory" - This isn't some hot take, just a personal opinion on whose tap/measurables I like more because after all, we've seen all of them play a combined 0 minutes for Iowa State.

No reason you gotta freak out over this lmao

Actually 3 guards on the weekend visit list. And Bond would be a different role than Williams, IMO, so really down to Johnson and Prather competing with Williams, plus freshmen.

 

[inCyteful]

Yes, based off tape/potential - I'd rather have him that the 4 visiting guards. Again, if it was purely TJs decision, I'm cool with that. We don't know.

Also notice how I said "not sure the backstory" - This isn't some hot take, just a personal opinion on whose tap/measurables I like more because after all, we've seen all of them play a combined 0 minutes for Iowa State.

No reason you gotta freak out over this lmao

You are right, I should have been more direct - I was giving you a chance to make your case.

My take for you to tear apart - Might suck for Williams but I am glad to see we are bringing 4 dudes that either made him realize he wasn't going to play and/or let TJ tell him he wasn't going to play.

 

[SerenityNow]

Yes, based off tape/potential - I'd rather have him that the 4 visiting guards. Again, if it was purely TJs decision, I'm cool with that. We don't know.

Also notice how I said "not sure the backstory" - This isn't some hot take, just a personal opinion on whose tap/measurables I like more because after all, we've seen all of them play a combined 0 minutes for Iowa State.

No reason you gotta freak out over this lmao

Maybe you should start over.

 

[MJ271]

Yes, based off tape/potential - I'd rather have him that the 4 visiting guards. Again, if it was purely TJs decision, I'm cool with that. We don't know.

Also notice how I said "not sure the backstory" - This isn't some hot take, just a personal opinion on whose tap/measurables I like more because after all, we've seen all of them play a combined 0 minutes for Iowa State.

No reason you gotta freak out over this lmao

Tape is good, and I do think that Williams has potential (or at least had potential before injury). Unless you're watching full games, though, you're also just seeing the best of a player when you look at the highlight tapes.

There definitely were shades of Curtis Jones in terms of play style, build, and growth from freshman to sophomore year. But Williams was also clearly not yet Curtis Jones.

Not a deep statistical dive, but here's a blind comparison between Williams, Johnson, Prather, and Bond's stat lines, plus Kenpom conference rankings over the last two seasons, for a rough strength of schedule comparison. The player reveal is in the spoiler below the table.

	PPG	APG	RPG	TOPG	FG%	3PFG% (3PA)	FT%	KP Conf. Rankings
Player A	11.9	1.5	4.7	1.1	47%	36% (3.5)	75%	10, 9
Player B	16.9	3.6	3.9	1.4	42%	38% (4.1)	78%	10, 9
Player C	13.9	2.4	3.2	2.6	43%	35% (4.2)	84%	22, 15
Player D	15.7	3.6	3.9	0.8	44%	37% (6.9)	85%	17, 22

Spoiler

Player A: Leon Bond
Player B: Jaquan Johnson
Player C: Mason Williams
Player D: Ryan Prather Jr.

You can make a pretty good argument that all three of the guard visitors have better stats than Williams in comparable or better conferences. Not trying to criticize Williams. But given the situation, I think it's pretty clear that Otz has a preference for the visiting guards over what he's seen from Williams, at least post-injury.

 

[Brockchili]

Some NBA teams like to use their 2nd rounders on Euro development project-type guys. It seems crazy now that for years there were multiple rounds of the NBA draft.

Yeah, multi year projects like Luca Garza.

 

[Kurttr]

Mason Williams is officially in the portal

Hat tip to MyNameEhJeff

 

[cyclone1209]

I thought Haggerty was a nice player in the games I saw him play against ISU. Could help fill the scoring gap left by departing players, but seems like a lightweight on defense. Not sure of the fit w/TJ's ball pressure/trapping scheme.

5 schools in 5 years? What are we doing.. lol

 

[CyCrazy]

I never said he would be better than all 5 guys coming to visit. I clearly was going off potential and what I've seen on his tape vs. the 4 guards coming to visit. I'll leave singleton out of it because he's not a guard.

I like his tape and measurables better than the other 4 coming to visit when you factor in who we have returning and who we are losing. That being said, if the reason he's leaving is because TJ told him there won't be much time for him/he wasn't good in practice then so be it, I'm good with that.

I like his "tape", lol.

 

[Klubber]

Saying can't create is just not true when he can get to that Fadeaway against anyone.

The BYU game is different to me because I'm not sure what anyone expected when we just let Dybantsa play 1 on 1. There's not a 2-4 in the country Dybansta can't lock down if you just let him play 1 on 1.

Take a look at the AZ game in the B12 tourney... They realized Milan was hot and decided for one godforsaken time they would run him off more screens and draw more plays for him and he drops 28 against one of the best teams in the country. I see a lot of fans love to say he cant create and while there is some truth to that, he still averaged the most points on the team over JJeff and Tamin who both had the ball in their hands more than him and even with a few rough games.

I agree, probably don't want to pay him any more than JJeff got last year, and certainly not what the current market is saying he may be worth.

I just get sick of hearing the "He can't create" narrative when our coaching staff was notoriously bad and scheming up a counter a defender wearing him like a shirt.

He can't hit a mid-range jumper with any kind of consistency and he can't slash and finish at the rim. The Dirk fadeaway is sweet, but it's not something you can go to repeatedly in a game.

Arizona completely shut him down in Tucson. In the Big XII Tourney they didn't do as good a job and he had more open looks. Dybantsa embarrassed him in Provo and Houston seems always able to shut him down as well. He was on the bench late in one of our biggest wins this year vs Houston because he's a defensive liability and Houston was defending him really well.

A guy who might get 4MM in NIL needs to be on the floor in games like that and delivering in crunch time. MM has not been clutch in big games overall. In fact, he's been a complete non-factor in many of them. He simply can't affect the game as much as someone like JJeff or other elite players because his overall game is nowhere near as good.

The SEC is loaded with tall athletic players with length, guys that give MM fits on D. I'm not sure he'd necessarily get more opportunities to score there if he were to go to Fla.

Now, having said all that, I'd love to have him back next year because of his deadly 3pt shooting.

 

[Cyinthenorth]

Looking through the 247 Sports transfer tracker - some names I hadn't seen mentioned (sorry if I missed them)

Pop Isaacs is back in the portal ... again. He was at TAMU this year (I had no idea)

Collin Chandler, the 3pt shooter from Kentucky, is going to BYU - he's from Utah and was a BYU recruit who followed Pope.


OSU has 7 guys in the portal, which combined with seniors means that everyone who played meaningful minutes is gone (again)

Kansas has 7 guys in the portal, and the only player who played meaningful minutes not in the portal is Rosario.

Crazy for OSU. Too early to think that maybe Lutz isn't the guy?

 

[Dopey]

Saying can't create is just not true when he can get to that Fadeaway against anyone.

The BYU game is different to me because I'm not sure what anyone expected when we just let Dybantsa play 1 on 1. There's not a 2-4 in the country Dybansta can't lock down if you just let him play 1 on 1.

Take a look at the AZ game in the B12 tourney... They realized Milan was hot and decided for one godforsaken time they would run him off more screens and draw more plays for him and he drops 28 against one of the best teams in the country. I see a lot of fans love to say he cant create and while there is some truth to that, he still averaged the most points on the team over JJeff and Tamin who both had the ball in their hands more than him and even with a few rough games.

I agree, probably don't want to pay him any more than JJeff got last year, and certainly not what the current market is saying he may be worth.

I just get sick of hearing the "He can't create" narrative when our coaching staff was notoriously bad and scheming up a counter a defender wearing him like a shirt.

Which is also exactly what the podcast said.

Do you pay $3.5M to a guy who really doesn’t fit your system.

Great ball player, borderline cyclone legend, etc. But he’s not a prototypical otz ball player.

 

[CloneLawman]

Which is also exactly what the podcast said.

Do you pay $3.5M to a guy who really doesn’t fit your system.

Great ball player, borderline cyclone legend, etc. But he’s not a prototypical otz ball player.

I think Otz wouldn't give a **** who rando fans think are prototypical Otz players.

 

[clonedude]

Which is also exactly what the podcast said.

Do you pay $3.5M to a guy who really doesn’t fit your system.

Great ball player, borderline cyclone legend, etc. But he’s not a prototypical otz ball player.

If it’s true that Otz only has $5M to spend, you can’t spend $3.5M on Milan.

 

[Jkclone15]

If it’s true that Otz only has $5M to spend, you can’t spend $3.5M on Milan.

This year Otz will have ~$10M.

The donors and Cook stepped up when the UNC rumors started.

 

[Cymark86]

He can't hit a mid-range jumper with any kind of consistency and he can't slash and finish at the rim. The Dirk fadeaway is sweet, but it's not something you can go to repeatedly in a game.

Arizona completely shut him down in Tucson. In the Big XII Tourney they didn't do as good a job and he had more open looks. Dybantsa embarrassed him in Provo and Houston seems always able to shut him down as well. He was on the bench late in one of our biggest wins this year vs Houston because he's a defensive liability and Houston was defending him really well.

A guy who might get 4MM in NIL needs to be on the floor in games like that and delivering in crunch time. MM has not been clutch in big games overall. In fact, he's been a complete non-factor in many of them. He simply can't affect the game as much as someone like JJeff or other elite players because his overall game is nowhere near as good.

The SEC is loaded with tall athletic players with length, guys that give MM fits on D. I'm not sure he'd necessarily get more opportunities to score there if he were to go to Fla.

Now, having said all that, I'd love to have him back next year because of his deadly 3pt shooting.

Man, hint of a guy leaving and we point out every flaw he has. We obviously take him back and are better with him. All that needs to be said. Everyone of our guys has flaws. Up to TJ to determine cost / benefit if it gets to that point.

But to say that he was a no show in certain games applies to every player on the planet.

 

[Texbudman]

Man, hint of a guy leaving and we point out every flaw he has. We obviously take him back and are better with him. All that needs to be said. Everyone of our guys has flaws. Up to TJ to determine cost / benefit if it gets to that point.

But to say that he was a no show in certain games applies to every player on the planet.

We have some thin skinned fans-as I’m sure every fan base has-but if one of “ours” leaves or even thinks about leaving we turn on them quickly. Look at the Audi thread and the shots she has been taking by some “fans”

 

[Cyclonepride]

He can't hit a mid-range jumper with any kind of consistency and he can't slash and finish at the rim. The Dirk fadeaway is sweet, but it's not something you can go to repeatedly in a game.

Arizona completely shut him down in Tucson. In the Big XII Tourney they didn't do as good a job and he had more open looks. Dybantsa embarrassed him in Provo and Houston seems always able to shut him down as well. He was on the bench late in one of our biggest wins this year vs Houston because he's a defensive liability and Houston was defending him really well.

A guy who might get 4MM in NIL needs to be on the floor in games like that and delivering in crunch time. MM has not been clutch in big games overall. In fact, he's been a complete non-factor in many of them. He simply can't affect the game as much as someone like JJeff or other elite players because his overall game is nowhere near as good.

The SEC is loaded with tall athletic players with length, guys that give MM fits on D. I'm not sure he'd necessarily get more opportunities to score there if he were to go to Fla.

Now, having said all that, I'd love to have him back next year because of his deadly 3pt shooting.

The key with almost any player is that they have to have threats around them that make the opponent pay for being hyper-focused on stopping them. The surrounding cast was able to do that in most games this year, but sometimes they couldn't. Even in the games that they couldn't, Milan's presence gave them the opportunity to, they just weren't able to take advantage of it.

 

[Die4Cy]

Softening the blow somebody said. That's likely what it is. A decision to get an NBA grade puts TJ on a short timeline for any decision to come back since most of the portal moves will happen in the next week or two. Every passing day his return is less likely. He will command more at ISU or any other college program, than he will earn this year in the NBA as a second rounder, so I honestly believe the most likely scenarios moving forward for Milan are: 1. Play NCAA ball for a big bag somewhere else. 2. NBA benchie. 3. Back at ISU in '26-27.