CHICAGO — Milan Momcilovic has some massive decisions to make in the next two weeks, and the stakes are high for everybody involved. The Iowa State transfer wing is one of the top shooters in the 2026 NBA Draft and also one of the best available free agents in the portal. Momcilovic’s stay-or-go decision serves as a massive pivot point for numerous programs, namely Kentucky, Louisville, St. John’s and UCLA, who are certainly in the market for the net-shredder who could lead all of college basketball in 3-pointers for the second year in a row.
It’s a big-boy recruitment with big money flying around, but staying in the NBA Draft lingers as a legitimate option ahead of the May 27 deadline.
“I’m still focused on the draft,” Momcilovic said on Wednesday. “I haven’t even talked to any colleges yet, but I’m sure if I have to go back, there is a spot open for me somewhere. I’m still going through this process — the deadline is the 27th of May, so I have a couple of weeks. I’m going to obviously finish this week, and then I’ve got some workouts with teams lined up. I just think high interest, maybe some promises, but I don’t think teams promise that early by the deadline. If there are guaranteed contracts, that would be good. If it’s later in the second round, those are usually two-way contracts, then I’d probably go back. We’ll see.”
NBA Draft Combine intel: AJ Dybantsa-to-Washington isn’t viewed as the lock everyone assumed
Adam Finkelstein
Kentucky coach Mark Pope was in Chicago for Wednesday’s pair of NBA Draft Combine scrimmages to support former UK star Otega Oweh as well as big men Jayden Quaintance and Malachi Moreno. The Wildcats could use Momcilovic in the worst way to raise the floor — and the ceiling — of a Kentucky roster that needs a top-shelf star. A sharpshooter like Momcilovic paired with playmaking guards like Alex Wilkins and Zoom Diallo would form a formidable UK backcourt, especially if Kentucky gets good news on Moreno’s stay-or-go decision (more on him shortly).
But the competition here is fierce.
Rick Pitino and St. John’s have money to spend after missing out on prized big man Massamba Diop to Gonzaga. UCLA has some available funds after missing out on John Blackwell to Duke.
And then there is Louisville, which is clearly trying to build as good a team as possible, money be damned. The Cardinals have landed two top-20 transfers (Oregon’s Jackson Shelstad and Kansas’ Flory Bidunga), two top-70 transfers (Iowa’s Alvaro Folgueiras and Arkansas’ Karter Knox). They are also bringing in five-star freshman Obinna Ekezie Jr. and retained Adrian Wooley, who is an easy breakout candidate.
And yet, Pat Kelsey is still pushing for Momcilovic.
“They’re putting together a superteam,” a gleeful Bidunga told CBS Sports.
Make no mistake, Momcilovic will demand a pretty penny to return to college basketball. Momcilovic can command a market that makes him one of the 10 highest-paid players in college basketball. Think north of $5 million.
“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; hopefully I’m on a good team that can go far in the tournament,” Momcilovic said. “That process will move pretty quick. I feel like I’ve been in college for three years, and I know what to ask and what to look for. I don’t need to go on a visit or anything. I can probably choose pretty quickly. Also, there aren’t a lot of schools that still have a lot of money or a lot of roster spots, so it’s not like I’m choosing between 15 schools, it’s going to be three or four.”
Arizona star Koa Peat dishes on upcoming stay-or-go decision amid shaky showing at NBA Draft Combine
Isaac Trotter
Malachi Moreno on the controversial move to skip scrimmages
A game of chicken is starting to potentially simmer with Kentucky big man Malachi Moreno. The freshman center checks in at No. 48 in CBS Sports’ NBA Draft prospect rankings, but he’s been regarded as a potential riser in a thinned-out big man class. Moreno raised some eyebrows by choosing not to participate in Wednesday’s scrimmage, while other higher-rated prospects like Baylor’s Cameron Carr or Texas’ Dailyn Swain did play as they tried to solidify their positioning.
Does Moreno have a promise? Or is this a bluff?
“After talks with my brother and my agent, they said they thought I was in a good spot,” Moreno said. “Got Pro Day coming up after this in L.A., and they wanted me to be full-strength for that. Then I got a couple more workouts set up after that.”
Moreno’s stay-or-go call is a hefty domino for Kentucky’s 2026-27 outlook. On paper, Pope’s center platoon of Moreno and Washington transfer Franck Kepnang looks formidable, especially with the sophomore surge that would be headed in Moreno’s direction. But Moreno returning to Lexington has become a bigger hurdle than initially expected due to some of the pre-draft buzz.
“This is my dream to be in the NBA, so I’m trying to put my best foot forward,” Moreno said. “I’ll have a lot of talks with my brother because he’s probably going to be the biggest factor in the decision. Talks with family, talks with inner circle, and then see what’s the best decision for me.”
Moreno did, however, have plenty to say about a noisy Kentucky offseason. The freshman center revealed he was the on-campus host for numerous UK targets during a busy spring period of free agency visits.
Kentucky’s inability to land top targets like Syracuse transfer forward Donnie Freeman, BYU point guard Rob Wright and top-rated freshman Tyran Stokes, who committed to Kansas, has been well documented. Pope got off the mat and on the board with two prized portal point guards in Diallo and Wilkins, but the never-ending noise (or vitriol, depending on where you look) has overflowed this spring. Kentucky currently has a roster that has no chance of competing for the SEC title, let alone making the Final Four, unless it gets Moreno back and adds a Momcilovic-sized splash in the portal.
Pope has heard it all, and so has Moreno.
“Seeing the team that they built, I think it’s pretty solid,” Moreno said. “I think it works really well. I would fit with a lot of guys who are there as well. I’ve known Zoom (Diallo) for a long time. We went to the Adidas Euro Camp together way back in high school. We’ve kept in touch over the years. When guys would come in on visit, I was the host because I was still in school, so I got to meet a lot of the guys who are signed with us as well and who are coming. They’re really swell guys.
“Being at Kentucky, it’s a double-edged sword. They’re gonna love what they see, but they’re also not going to like what they see. You have to accept both of those factors. You can’t please everybody, but I do think that with the team that they have, I really think that if the best opportunity is for me to go back, I think we can really make some noise.”
For now, Big Blue Nation waits.
Alabama’s Amari Allen dishes on what’s next after underwhelming measurements
Alabama wing Amari Allen noted that he will return to Tuscaloosa for his sophomore season if he gets feedback that he would land outside of the first round.
“Our thing is more fit, Allen said. “Obviously, first round. If it was second round, I would go back to school. But our thing is more fit and player development than a specific pick.”
Allen measured just a shade over 6-foot-5 barefoot with a 6-foot-8 wingspan. That was a bit of a disappointment for some scouts, who were hoping for Allen to be closer to the 6-foot-8 height that he was listed at Alabama. But Nate Oats’ development track speaks for itself, and Allen has first-hand experience. Last year at this time, Labaron Philon opted to return to Alabama for his sophomore season, and his stock spiked into the lottery range. Allen could be in for a similar surge, especially because Alabama could shift more on-ball responsibilities his direction.
“I definitely feel like I can go back to college and be a 20 (points) and 10 (rebounds) guy. Ultimately, though, I want to go to the NBA. The NBA is my main goal and has always been my main goal. So to be this close and have the opportunity to go in that mid-first round, it’d be kind of hard to turn that down as well. So it’s a tough decision to make.”
Eight-pack of storylines for critical college basketball stars
Stanford’s Ebuka Okorie
1. Stanford star Ebuka Okorie said there was “no chance” of him returning to Cardinal for his sophomore year. Okorie, who possesses a wingspan north of 6-foot-7 and one of the quickest first steps in the draft, is one of the best stories in all of college basketball. His rise from No. 119 in the Class of 2025 rankings to a potential first-round pick rivals the surge from Illinois’ Keaton Wagler, who was unranked by some recruiting services and will be a top-10 pick in next month’s draft.
Illinois’ Andrej Stojakovic
2. Illinois wing Andrej Stojakovic is currently laser-focused on the NBA Draft, but there isn’t much panic in the Illinois camp concerning his stay-or-go decision.
“I think I’m in a special situation where my option to go back to school is one of a kind,” Stojakovic said, via Illini Inquirer’s Jeremy Werner. “Not many people in this Combine have the option to go back to a Final Four team with most of the guys returning. … I’m very thankful for the situation I’m in because going back to school is also a really, really good option for me.
Vanderbilt’s Tyler Tanner
3. Vanderbilt point guard Tyler Tanner, unsurprisingly, measured in under 5-foot-11 barefoot and at 166.8 pounds. He’s small. He’s also awesome at basketball. Tanner is pound-for-pound one of the top athletes in the entire class. Tanner posted an up-and-down showing in Wednesday’s scrimmage Ii Chicago, but he is expected to suit up again on Thursday for one more scrimmage. If he returns to Vanderbilt, Tanner will be one of the highest-paid players in the country and a preseason All-American.
“Right now, I’m just pushing for the NBA,” Tanner said. “Me, my agent, my family, we’ll have a conversation closer to the deadline … but right now, we’re really not worried about college. Vanderbilt’s a great spot, but my dream is to play in the NBA.”
Santa Clara transfer Allen Graves
4. Santa Clara transfer Allen Graves said he will stay in the NBA Draft if he gets first-round feedback. Graves is an analytical darling who measured well (7-foot wingspan). On the college front, Graves noted that LSU and Duke are his top two schools, but the Tigers remain the biggest team to watch. LSU coach Will Wade coached Graves’ older brother, Marshall, and LSU’s campus is just a short 35-to-40-minute drive from Graves’ hometown of Ponchatoula, Louisiana. This one sounds like an NBA-or-LSU decision.
Arkansas’ Meleek Thomas and Billy Richmond
5. Arkansas quietly has a lot on the line this week with both Meleek Thomas and Billy Richmond facing stay-or-go decisions. Both young guards remained tight-lipped about the future:
Thomas: “I’m just going to say TBD when it comes to that. I’m enjoying everything I’m going through right now. The process has been treating me great. Decisions that I will have to talk about on deadline day, then that’s a different talk for a different day.”
Richmond: “I just have to come to a clear mind and have talks with my family and go from there. This process has been surreal. Teams really like me.”
Baylor’s Tounde Yessoufou
6. Baylor transfer wing Tounde Yessoufou deflected all questions about the portal. Both Yessoufou and his reps have maintained that staying in the NBA Draft is the priority, but any wing-needy college teams will stay involved until the final hour.
UNC transfer commitment Matt Able
7. New North Carolina guard Matt Able has a fascinating stay-or-go decision to make. Able had a shaky first season at NC State, but that’s easy to waive away considering all the racket that went on with the Wolfpack last year. Able has terrific positional size and a ton of untapped upside. There’s a real shot that he is North Carolina’s best player next season … if he is convinced to exit the NBA Draft. Able had 15 points on just nine shots in Wednesday’s scrimmage.
“It’s definitely a tough decision,” Able said. “I love UNC, I’m excited to get over there at some point … I’m still back and forth on it. I gotta think about it some more, get with my camp and figure it out.”
UNC’s Henri Veesaar
8. North Carolina center Henri Veesaar relayed to new UNC coach Michael Malone that he is planning to stay in the NBA Draft. With the NCAA’s new 5-in-5 eligibility model looming, Veesaar would have two more years of eligibility remaining. That’s two more pay periods to cash in on, and it’s a good time to be a big fella in college basketball. Veesaar could earn close to $12 million combined if he stayed in college for two more years.
That’s not nothing.
Despite the lucrative path that the extra year of eligibility could unlock, Veesaar noted that he believes he can develop better in the NBA than in college.
“Obviously, it’s tempting,” Veesaar said. “Like, there’s a lot of money being thrown around in college. It’s another year of going to school, being able to get ready for the NBA, but honestly, kind of getting thrown into the fire is the best way to learn. I had that as a freshman in college. I feel like I had the same one as going to Real Madrid when I was 15. You kind of get thrown in the practice with players that are older than you, better than you, more experienced than you. So you learn a lot quicker.
“Like, in college, I feel like if I go back for a fifth year, I would be one of the starters of the team. I’d be one of the most experienced players, and I feel like there’s more guys that can learn from me than I can learn from other players. Obviously, there’s something I can learn, and the coaches are really smart. Mike Malone is one of the best coaches, and I would have a lot to learn from him. But I think going to the NBA, whatever team drafts me, there’s going to be the starting center or whoever they have who are eight or nine-year NBA vets. They’re gonna have so much experience in the NBA. I get to be a sponge, soak in all the information, learn everything from them. I’m gonna have 24 hours of the day that I can concentrate on basketball rather than have to go to classes, do all that stuff. And I think just being able to have all that extra time and the information and resources that are available to you, I think it’s gonna help me grow in basketball quicker.”
Predictions for each stay-or-go decision
These are not stone-cold locks, but let’s call them educated guesses at this point.
- Arizona’s Koa Peat: Staying in the draft.
- Texas’ Dailyn Swain: Staying in the draft.
- Michigan’s Morez Johnson: Staying in the draft.
- UNC’s Henri Veesaar: Staying in the draft.
- Rueben Chinyelu: Returning to Florida.
- Tyler Tanner: Returning to Vanderbilt.
- Malachi Moreno: Returning to Kentucky.
- Andrej Stojakovic: Returning to Illinois.
- Billy Richmond III: Returning to Arkansas.
- Arkansas’ Meleek Thomas: Staying in the draft.
- Jeremy Fears Jr.: Returning to Michigan State.
- Flory Bidunga: Returning to Louisville.
- Jacob Cofie: Returning to USC.
- Milan Momcilovic: Returning to college; TBD on where.
- Amari Allen: Returning to Alabama.
- Stanford’s Ebuka Okorie: Staying in the draft.
- Santa Clara transfer Allen Graves: Staying in the draft.
- Baylor transfer Tounde Yessoufou: No clue, but returning to college makes too much sense despite what his reps have pitched.
- Texas Tech’s Christian Anderson: Staying in the draft.
- John Blackwell: Returning to college to play for Duke.
- Matt Able: Returning to college to play for UNC.
- Duke’s Isaiah Evans: Staying in the draft.
