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

Camp Wagner (6-6 200) from Indiana State is an interesting one.

There's a little bit of Nate Heise in there. Good defender, not quite the rebounder but he's a better shooter. Not sure TJ is looking for a 1 year guy but he kind of fits the mold from the past..
 
clone52 said:
Could definitely be right about the quickness. However, he seemed to be pretty decent on the traps and switches on the outside.

If the lineup is 3 guards, Momcilovic and Buchanan are the starters, our rebounding will be attrocious, unless the third guard is the type of rebounder that Heise is. He is really an underrated loss for next year.
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I can see the concern about rebounding, but that needs to be focus of off-season. Pleta, Buchanon & Momcilovic all need to get stronger.

Not worried about Toure, Batemon, Williams, Gray, Wiggins & Mitchell. We know the first 2 guys have great motors- and to play the other guys will need to give effort.

One thing TJ seems to have focused on in last 2 recruiting classes is getting longer & more athletic.
 
Has Trilly posted anything Iowa State related on the Discord site? He and his band of former coaches do a really good job "foreshadowing" transfers this time of year. In fact, I would be surprised if there's no indirect Iowa State news out there yet.
 
Mads4st8 said:
Has Trilly posted anything Iowa State related on the Discord site? He and his band of former coaches do a really good job "foreshadowing" transfers this time of year. In fact, I would be surprised if there's no indirect Iowa State news out there yet.
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Like Rohde all but being a cyclone last year until he wasn't. haha
 
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isucy86 said:
If Milan comes back, his role will be based on feedback from the NBA. They'll want to see more than a spot-up shooter. They'll want to see a guy who is VERY comfortable driving into paint. That doesn't mean a player who finishes at basket, but player who can make mid-range jumpers.

Also, if Milan can't be physical at Big 12 level, how can he expect to hold-his-own in the NBA? And one area the NBA will want to see improvement is rebounding, even if Milan projects as an NBA wing.

And the days of 4's banging down low are long gone. Think of Milan as a stretch 4. More Niang than Jefferson. Alex Karaban is another comparable.

The goal for Milan should be making him a 1st round draft pick. And that means expanding his skillset.
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Karaban will be a rotational NBA player, which is why he continued to come back to college each year. That may be Milan's future as well, but it's still a very lucrative future.
 
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isucy86 said:
If Milan comes back, his role will be based on feedback from the NBA. They'll want to see more than a spot-up shooter. They'll want to see a guy who is VERY comfortable driving into paint. That doesn't mean a player who finishes at basket, but player who can make mid-range jumpers.

Also, if Milan can't be physical at Big 12 level, how can he expect to hold-his-own in the NBA? And one area the NBA will want to see improvement is rebounding, even if Milan projects as an NBA wing.

And the days of 4's banging down low are long gone. Think of Milan as a stretch 4. More Niang than Jefferson. Alex Karaban is another comparable.

The goal for Milan should be making him a 1st round draft pick. And that means expanding his skillset.
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This is a very good point - I can definitely see the NBA request to be for Milan to play as a "stretch 4" for his senior season - and for him to take more of a "JJ-like" role in the offense. He's obviously not the same level passer as Jefferson, but I could definitely see him with the ball in his hands more next year.

Visually I thought Milan looked much stronger and tougher on the defensive glass this year - but his Defensive Rebounding Rate is almost identical to last year. He definitely bails on the offensive glass (by design) so he never gets ORBs. I was also surprised that his assist rate has actually fallen each year - from 7.2% as a FR to 6.2% this year. Some of that is by design - he needs to just shoot the ball - but it did seem like he had the ball more this year.

In losing Heise and Jefferson, rebounding may be affected the most. Williams was a plus rebounding guard at EWU, but I could see us getting another defensive/rebounding focused "wing" rather than a prototypical '4'. To put it another way - we may need a replacement Heise more than we need a replacement Jefferson.
 
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Gibbon said:
No way Buchannan and Pleta get any sort of meaningful minutes on the floor together next year. It's 2026 you can't have 2 bigs like that on the floor at the same time.
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Certainly not ideal (if Pleta doesn't develop perimeter skills), but I'd push back against the idea that there's much of anything you "can't" do in college basketball:
  • Florida starts 6'11" Alex Condon and 6'10" Rueben Chinyelu. Of those two, Condon is the "shooter" at 17% from three this season on 53 attempts.
  • Koa Peat and Tobe Awaka get almost all of Arizona's minutes at the 4, and they have a combined 29 three-point attempts this season.
  • Per Kenpom, for BYU, Mboup has played 35% of the available minutes at the 4 in the last five games, with his 12 three-point attempts on the season.
I'm sure there are plenty of other examples, but these were a few that popped into my mind immediately. Definitely not 1-for-1 examples, but still along the lines of two big men playing together who can't or don't shoot.

Now, I still don't really think it's going to happen much. If it does, I imagine it will either be a great sign (in that Pleta has developed a game more similar to Jefferson's) or a really bad sign (in that Momcilovic has left, we whiffed on transfers, and we're forced to play pretty ugly).
 
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TheDudeAbides said:
Karaban will be a rotational NBA player, which is why he continued to come back to college each year. That may be Milan's future as well, but it's still a very lucrative future.
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No doubt if Milan sticks. If he can grow his game, becoming a 1st round pick has roster & financial advantages.

Expanding Milan's role and Milan's trust for TJ could be a big advantage this spring when it comes to NIL discussions.
 
isucy86 said:
If Milan comes back, his role will be based on feedback from the NBA. They'll want to see more than a spot-up shooter. They'll want to see a guy who is VERY comfortable driving into paint. That doesn't mean a player who finishes at basket, but player who can make mid-range jumpers.

Also, if Milan can't be physical at Big 12 level, how can he expect to hold-his-own in the NBA? And one area the NBA will want to see improvement is rebounding, even if Milan projects as an NBA wing.

And the days of 4's banging down low are long gone. Think of Milan as a stretch 4. More Niang than Jefferson. Alex Karaban is another comparable.

The goal for Milan should be making him a 1st round draft pick. And that means expanding his skillset.
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Milan is Kyle Korver.
 
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MJ271 said:
He definitely has some passing chops--that video has some great passes--but I don't think he's a PG in the way that most people mean it. At Eastern Washington last year, he averaged 2.4 assists and 2.6 turnovers (another EWU player averaged 3.8 assists).

To be fair, in Iowa State's offense the past few years, ball handling is pretty decentralized. Assuming he's good enough to play, I'm sure he'll handle the ball quite a bit and will bring it up the court every once in a while. But I'm with others that I would prefer to get someone in the transfer portal who can at least add to that depth of secondary playmakers.
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I saw those stats, and his 3-pt %
mgordon said:
To me watching his highlight film. He is good in mid range, espically off pick and roll. Can create and make shots as the shot clock is winding down. While his 3 point percentage may not be as high, I suspect part of it is the supporting cast and the need to force shots. His stroke looks good so I think his shooting percentage from 3 will climb. I'm guessing he would have many more open looks playing with Milan and Bateman.
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He has had another year to practice his shot. What I like is that he is already familiar with the other players and what TJ want on defense and offense.
 
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clone52 said:
I wouldn't call Jazz or Eneruna strong rebounders. Eneruna never shot better than 32% from 3. Tre King was very strong, but he shot worse from 3 point range than Pleta did in Europe. Who is Kiss? Why am I blanking on that?

At age 20, Jefferson was a 27% three point shooter, Jaz was a 30% shooter and Pleta was a 28% three point shooter
At age 21, Jefferson was a 31% three point shooter, Jaz was a 34% shooter and Pleta didn't attempt a 3.
At age 22, Jefferson was a 35% three point shooter and Jaz was 38% shooter.

You are telling me, its IMPOSSIBLE that Pleta might possibly be a 30-35% three point shooter next year?
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I think it's highly unlikely. He hasn't even attempted a 3 at the D1 level. I don't care at all what he shot in the German league.
 
Chitowncy said:
Yes, I think Pleta will continue to develop and next year you'll see him look at the basket from 15 to 20 feet and I would also think from 3. That will help our offense and make him even better offensively for us. Just watch some of his highlights from Europe; he was shooting a fair amount of threes. I think he'll keep working on it, and get to a better percentage (even if marginally) and TJ gives him the green light to be a threat.

That's my hope and belief at least that he could have the most improvement out of all the returners. He's got good physicality, and finishing ability around the rim. If he can get better at the jumpers (and I predict he will), he's going to up his contributions and scoring next year and be an even better player for us.
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Reading between the lines on TJ's comments, but it seems like TJ was saying that Pleta needed to get the key things down before expanding his game/role. I think this is what he meant by expanding.
 
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isucy86 said:
I can see the concern about rebounding, but that needs to be focus of off-season. Pleta, Buchanon & Momcilovic all need to get stronger.

Not worried about Toure, Batemon, Williams, Gray, Wiggins & Mitchell. We know the first 2 guys have great motors- and to play the other guys will need to give effort.

One thing TJ seems to have focused on in last 2 recruiting classes is getting longer & more athletic.
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If Milan can get strong enough, he can post up more. He seems to have a good half-hook, though he hasn't used it much.
TheDudeAbides said:
I get it's a fun exercise to project future lineups, but in today's portal era it's kind of a waste of time in mid March. So many unknowns.

Luckily that specific lineup guess is almost certainly not going to be reality as it would really struggle to score.

Milan needs to stay at the 3. People's posts of him moving to the 4, don't understand just how physical you have to be to play it all season in the Big12. Milan is great at a lot of things, but being physical is not one. Also, IF he's coming back he's not going to completely change up his role. He and the staff would continue to focus on his ability to score - not bang down low.

TJ has a great foundation to work with on what could possibly come back, but they absolutely need to fill Jefferson's role in some way. Whether that's through spending big on 1 guy or splitting the production across a couple guys, moneyball style.

1. Toure(assuming he takes an offensive jump this offseason), veteran transfer, maybe Gray? - solid
2. Williams OR Batemon - solid
3. Milan?, Williams - if Milan back, all set
4. BIGGEST NEED - will need to spend big here imo
5. Buchanon, Pleta, DRK - all set

Pleta may be serviceable at the 4 if he has a big jump in the offseason on the offensive end, but can't rely on him as the primary option there. Him and Buchanon continuing to alternate at the 5 will be very effective. Anything you get out of the freshman, DRK, is a bonus. We all know, freshman bigs take a while to develop. Same reason I don't think we can rely on Jackson Kiss to come in, and offer much year 1.
They will absolutely need to find someone that can score and rebound (at least a 12 & 8 guy) - unfortunately everyone else is looking for this as well, so it'll come with a hefty price tag.

If Milan is back, he stays at the 3. If he leaves, I think you can make a rotation of Toure, Batemon, and Williams work 1-3. Williams has a bit more size - CuJo played this position in their 3 guard lineups last yr, and was slimmer than Mason. In this scenario I think you likely need to also go out, and get a playmaking guard because we just don't know what Williams is bringing yet coming off his injury.

Bottom line:
Primary - must have a plug & play transfer forward come in that can shoot it with some respectable consistency to maintain spacing.
Secondary - (a lot depends on Milan's status) playmaking veteran guard

Understanding these are big & expensive asks, but I think only needing a couple transfer additions for next year's team means they're already in a pretty good spot.
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I believe Kiss will get playing time by the end of next season. He has only been playing hoops for 4 years, transitioning from rugby. Looks like he has great footwork and looks very athletic for 6'8", 230 lbs. Here are some clips:



 
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