Report: Iowa State Transfer, Louisville Target Milan Momcilovic Withdraws from NBA Draft

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville men's basketball program's interest in Milan Momcilovic now has the opportunity to materialize into a full blown pursuit.

The former Iowa State star forward is withdrawing from the 2026 NBA Draft, and will return to play in college for the 2026-27 season, according to ESPN's Jeff Borzello.

Momcilovic, who also entered the transfer portal when he first announced his intent to test the draft process back on Apr. 12, had until midnight tonight to decide whether or not he wanted to return to college or stay in the draft.

Following Boyuan Zhang's commitment to Louisville back on May 11, most assumed that the Cardinals were done on the roster construction front - at least in terms of adding players who could play significant minutes this upcoming season. It put UofL at an 11-man roster, and it is among one of the most expensive rosters in sport thanks in part to their top-ranked portal class.

However, despite this, not only did Louisville's behind-the-scenes interest in Momcilovic not go away, it seemed to increase. On May 13, CBS Sports' Isaac Trotter called the Cardinals one of the three main teams in the mix for Momcilovic, along with Kentucky and St. John's, with 247Sports' Kyle Tucker adding that he continued to hear that Louisville is "a serious threat to land Momcilovic if he returns to college."

As recently as this last Wednesday, The Field of 68's Jeff Goodman went as far to say that he believed the Momcilovic recruitment would come down to "probably a Kentucky vs Louisville battle."

Getting a commitment from Momcilovic is not going to be easy, primarily because of the money aspect. Trotter reported earlier this week that he believes the Iowa State star forward could command up to $6 million in NIL should he return to college. Considering what Louisville has already spent, especially when compared to the amount of high profile targets that Kentucky has missed out on, the Wildcats can certainly offer Momcilovic a lot more.

However, what Louisville can offer is the opportunity to play for a contender and make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament - something that is far more certainly likely to come from them than Kentucky. Why does this matter? At the NBA Draft Combine, Momcilovic said that if he did go back to college, not only would be want to position himself well to improve his draft stock, he's wanted to play for a contender.

"If I return to college, just a fit that I can play well in and hopefully help my chances to go to the NBA the year after that,” he said. “Hopefully I’m on a good team that can go far in the tournament.”

If Louisville were to land Momcilovic, it would give them the elite sniper from deep that their roster needs, and would firmly elevate them into the top tier of national championship contenders. The 6-foot-8, 220-pound power forward averaged 16.9 points and 3.1 rebounds per games last season, with his 48.7 percent shooting on three-point attempts and 136 made threes both leading all of Division I hoops.

Even if the Cardinals don't get Momcilovic, they're still set up to have a great amount of success in year three under head coach Pat Kelsey. Their six-man transfer class consists of top-ranked transfer Flory Bidunga, top-20 transfer Jackson Shelstad, a pair of top-75 transfers in Alvaro Folgueiras and Karter Knox, plus De'Shayne Montgomery and Gabe Dynes. Five-star center Obinna Ekezie Jr. and Zhang headline their 2026 high school recruiting class, which also includes Isaac Ellis. Not to mention they are also bringing back Adrian Wooley and London Johnson.

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