Iowa State Cyclones Coach Sets High Goal for Milan Momcilovic To Meet This Season

An Iowa State Cyclones coach believes that Milan Momcilovic has the skills to reach an incredibly high goal for this season.

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Iowa State Cyclones head coach T.J. Otzelberger knows there are going to be some growing pains for his team early on in the 2025-26 men’s basketball season. They have a huge edge compared to some of the competition when it comes to returning talent, but they are replacing several key contributors.

Their two leading scorers, Curtis Jones and Keshon Gilbert, are not back. Starting center Dishon Jackson transferred to the Pittsburgh Panthers. Fellow big man Brandton Chatfield exhausted his eligibility as well.

Incoming transfers such as Dominick Nelson, Blake Buchanan and Eric Mulder will have roles. As will freshmen Jamarion Batemon and Killyan Toure.

But this team will go as far as their Big 3 of Tamin Lipsey, Joshua Jefferson and Milan Momcilovic take them.

Otzelberger knows what to expect from Lipsey and Jefferson. Both seniors are highly-regarded on both ends of the court. Lipsey was selected to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team and national All-Defensive Team by Jay Bilas. Jefferson was on the All-Big 12 Second Team last year.

T.J. Otzelberger shares major goal for Milan Momcilovic

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Will Momcilovic reach the same heights as his teammates? Entering Year 3 with the Cyclones, his head coach has set the bar on becoming an All-Conference level contributor.

"He's capable of doing everything that I said," Otzelberger said, via Alec Busse of Cyclone Alert, part of the 247Sports Network (subscription required). "Playing at an All-Conference level and doing it every single night. I think, in the past, when we've had other guys, there's time where he can kind of blend in. This isn't the blend in year. This is the step up."

Momcilovic has shown improvements thus far in his Iowa State career. His points per game average increased from 10.9 as a freshman to 11.5 as a sophomore despite playing fewer minutes and taking virtually the same number of shots.

His shot selection changed. He attempted 5.7 3-pointers per game last season compared to 4.6 per game the previous campaign. Despite the increase in volume, his percentage rose as well.

Milan Momcilovic will be counted on to spread floor

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Otzelberger needs to see a similar increase in his volume heading into the 2025-26 regular season. Someone needs to fill the void left by Jones, who was the team’s best shooter the last two years, with 91 3-pointers made.

"Just seeing that and kind of trying to implement that this summer and fall is kind of big," Momcilovic said. "And it definitely helped me out seeing Curt last year. And kind of taking some things away from his game that can help mine this year."

The coaching staff would love to see Momcilovic increase his attempts to about eight per game. He got seven up against the Creighton Bluejays in the first exhibition game, but didn’t make a single attempt.

Alas, one poor shooting night isn’t changing the team’s plans. Otzelberger still has the utmost confidence in his third-year forward of taking that leap and becoming an All-Big 12 level producer this season.