Iowa State Wrongly Drops in Top 25 After Milan Momcilovic Transfer

The Iowa State Cyclones men’s basketball team suffered a massive blow when Milan Momcilovic entered the 2026 NBA Draft and subsequently put his name in the transfer portal as well.

He was the third starter from last season’s team that wouldn’t be returning, since Tamin Lipsey and Joshua Jefferson both exhausted their eligibility. Momcilovic was hoping to live out his dream of being drafted into the NBA, but that is going to wait another year.

He withdrew from the 2026 NBA Draft and eventually selected the Kentucky Wildcats as the team he would be playing with during his senior year. That decision has had a major impact on the way-too-early top 25 shared by Jeff Borzello of ESPN.

The Cyclones were already a little underappreciated, coming in at No. 18 in the previous rankings. In the update shared most recently, they have plummeted even further down the top 25.

Iowa State wrongly moving down top 25

Iowa State Cyclones head coach T.J. Otzelberger calls a play during the second half against the Kentucky Wildcats. — Mar 22, 2026; St. Louis, MO, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach T.J. Otzelberger calls a play during the second half against the Kentucky Wildcats during a second round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Enterprise Center. | Jeff Le-Imagn Images

Iowa State comes in at No. 24, dropping six spots. One of the reasons for their drop? Momcilovic selected Kentucky, which went from unranked previously to No. 17 in the rankings, for one of the biggest leaps in the rankings.

The biggest move up the rankings belongs to the St. John’s Red Storm. They added Tounde Yessoufou after he withdrew from the 2026 NBA Draft, catapulting them from No. 19 to No. 7. He received an NIL deal worth just below $6 million, which likely helped set up Momcilovic for his deal, which was more than $6 million.

Another team that moved ahead of the Cyclones was the Gonzaga Bulldogs. They swapped spots with Iowa State, going from No. 24 to No. 18.

One of their Big 12 rivals, the Kansas Jayhawks, is also back in the top 25. They, too, were jumped over the Cyclones, being placed at No. 23 after previously being unranked by Borzello. Their ranking was improved by the addition of the No. 1-ranked recruit, Tyran Stokes.

With Kansas joining the mix, the Big 12 now has four teams in the top 25 and a fifth, the BYU Cougars, just missing the cut and being placed in the next five. The highest-ranked team is the Arizona Wildcats, who are No. 10.

Tommy Lloyd’s team was one of the three in the mix for Momcilovic down to the wire. Had they secured a commitment from the former Iowa State star sharpshooter, they would have assuredly vaulted closer to the top five, which remained unchanged from the previous edition of the top 25.

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