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Former Iowa State star Milan Momcilovic withdraws from 2026 NBA Draft

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Former Iowa State star Milan Momcilovic withdraws from 2026 NBA Draft


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Former Iowa State basketball star Milan Momcilovic is not going to the NBA just yet.

Anticipation was building ahead for fans to see what the former Cyclone would do leading into the May 27 deadline, which gave players one final opportunity to decide whether or not they were continuing with the NBA Draft process or maintaining NCAA eligibility for another season of college basketball.

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After plenty of debate among college basketball fans regarding whether he would or wouldn’t continue, Momcilovic officially made his decision, electing to withdraw from the NBA Draft pool and return to college basketball on Wednesday night, according to multiple reports.

He and the rest of the NBA Draft candidates with remaining eligibility had until May 27 at 10:59 p.m. CT to decide whether or not they were committing to the NBA Draft process or return to college.

The 6-foot-8 sharpshooter had simultaneously entered the transfer portal when first declaring for the NBA Draft back in April. He will be a highly sought-after player. According to ESPN’s transfer rankings, he is the No. 1 overall player in the transfer portal. In the mock drafts that Momcilovic was included in, he was mostly projected to be a second-round pick.

He has reported interest from Kentucky, Louisville, St. John’s and Arizona.

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Momcilovic is coming off a career-best year as a junior. The All-Big 12 second-team selection led the Cyclones with 16.9 points per game, while shooting 50.6% overall and 48.6% from deep. He led the country in 3-point shooting percentage and total 3-point makes, with 136. That mark is also an Iowa State single-season record, surpassing the previous mark set by Dedric Willoughby’s 102 3-pointers in the 1996-97 season.

He also had the fifth-highest true shooting percentage (69.3%) in the country and an effective field-goal percentage of 67.2%, which was good for 13th in the nation.

“I love Milan, he’s my guy. Obviously, I had a couple-year relationship prior to him even coming to Iowa State,” said Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger at the Cyclone Tailgate Tour opener in Des Moines on May 18. “What you want for everybody in your program is for their dreams to become a reality and obviously, with the season he had and how he’s continued to develop, he put himself in a great position for the draft. Yet, at the same time in the climate and landscape of college athletics, it’s important to keep your options open and leave that available at the end if it isn’t to go your way.

“All the conversations were great, really respect how he went through and made his decisions. I don’t think there’s anybody that’s a loser in this situation, right? We had a great experience with him for three seasons, he’s put himself in a great position to go get drafted. If that’s not able to happen for him, it’s important that he’s able to find a landing spot at college that fits what he’s looking for.”

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Eugene Rapay covers Iowa State athletics for the Des Moines Register. Contact Eugene at erapay@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @erapay5.





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Person drowns at Coralville pool

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Person drowns at Coralville pool


CORALVILLE, Iowa (KCRG) – Coralville Police say a person has drowned at the Coralville Aquatic Center Tuesday afternoon.

The call went out shortly after 4 p.m. to 1513 7th Street for a drowning report.

Officers, lifeguards and paramedics gave lifesaving aid to the person. They were taken to the University of Iowa Health Care, where they were pronounced dead.

The identity of the victim has not been released. The incident is under investigation.

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Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.



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Iowa City Man who ran over people in homeless encampment sentenced to nearly two decades in prison

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Iowa City Man who ran over people in homeless encampment sentenced to nearly two decades in prison


IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – An Iowa City man who pleaded guilty to driving into five people at a homeless encampment last August has been sentenced to serve nearly two decades in prison.

On August 15, 2025, Roman Aguilar Ventura drove his vehicle while under the influence through an encampment near Shelter House, an organization that assists homeless people.

Ventura pleaded guilty to several charges in March, including Operating While Under the Influence, two counts of Willful Injury Resulting in Bodily Injury, and three counts of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon. He also pleaded guilty to Driving While Barred and Driving While License Denied or Revoked.

In addition to his sentence, Ventura will also be subject to a six-year suspension of his drivers license, in addition to substance abuse treatment.

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Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.



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Where is Iowa State football placed in USA TODAY’s Big 12 rankings?

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Where is Iowa State football placed in USA TODAY’s Big 12 rankings?


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For the second straight year, the Big 12 Conference did not release preseason football rankings for the upcoming season, but that didn’t stop the USA TODAY Sports Network from making its own predicted order of finish for the 2026 season as well as a preseason All-Big 12 team.

Sports writers who cover the Big 12 throughout the network voted on the predicted order of finish for all 16 teams.

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Iowa State lost the winningest coach in program history, Matt Campbell, and had a massive roster rebuild after finishing 8-4 last season. With a team loaded with more than 60 newcomers and a coach who is new to the power-conference level in Jimmy Rogers, the Cyclones were tabbed to finish in last place in the USA TODAY Sports’ preseason Big 12 rankings.

Texas Tech, which won its first Big 12 title in school history last season and reached the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff, is projected to repeat and finish on top. BYU, which lost to the Red Raiders in the Big 12 championship game last season, is predicted to finish in second place. Utah, Houston and Arizona round out the top five of the USA TODAY Sports Network’s preseason Big 12 prediction.

For the USA TODAY Sports Network preseason All-Big 12 team, the Cyclones didn’t have any players selected, but they did have a few honorable mentions.

Running back Aiden Flora, kicker Kyle Konrardy and defensive end Isaac Terrell were chosen as honorable mentions for the USA TODAY Sports Network preseason All-Big 12 team.

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Flora and Konrardy are returning All-Big 12 selections. Flora was an all-conference second-team returner last season, and Konrardy was named All-Big 12 honorable mention.

Terrell is one of the Cyclones’ promising newcomers. He was named the Pac-12 Defensive Line Top Performer of the Year and had a team-high seven sacks at Washington State last season.

2026 USA TODAY Sports Network Big 12 football preseason predicted order of finish

  1. Texas Tech
  2. BYU
  3. Utah
  4. Houston
  5. Arizona
  6. TCU
  7. Kansas State
  8. Arizona State
  9. Oklahoma State
  10. Baylor
  11. UCF
  12. Kansas
  13. Cincinnati
  14. West Virginia
  15. Colorado
  16. Iowa State

2026 USA TODAY Sports Network Preseason All-Big 12 award winners

Offensive Player of the Year: L.J. Martin, RB, BYU

(Also receiving votes: Noah Fifita, QB, Arizona; Drew Mestemaker, QB, Oklahoma State; Amare Thomas, WR, Houston)

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Defensive Player of the Year: Ben Roberts, LB, Texas Tech

(Also receiving votes: A.J. Holmes, DL, Texas Tech; Brice Pollock, DB, Texas Tech; Austin Romaine, LB, Texas Tech)

Newcomer of the Year: Drew Mestemaker, QB, Oklahoma State

(Also receiving votes: Caleb Hawkins, RB, Oklahoma State; Cam Cook, RB, West Virginia; Adam Trick, DL, Texas Tech)

2026 USA TODAY Sports Network Preseason All-Big 12 football team

Offense:

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  • QB: Noah Fifita, Arizona
  • RB: L.J. Martin, BYU
  • RB: Caleb Hawkins, Oklahoma State
  • WR: Amare Thomas, Houston
  • WR: Omarion Miller, Arizona State
  • WR: Wyatt Young, Oklahoma State
  • TE: Terrance Carter Jr., Texas Tech
  • OL: Evan Tengesdahl, Cincinnati
  • OL: Bruce Mitchell, BYU
  • OL: Shadre Hurst, Houston
  • OL: John Pastore, Kansas State
  • OL: Howard Sampson, Texas Tech

Defense:

  • DL: A.J. Holmes, Texas Tech
  • DL: Wendell Gregory, Kansas State
  • DL: Adam Trick, Texas Tech
  • DL: Mateen Ibirogba, Texas Tech
  • LB: Ben Roberts, Texas Tech
  • LB: Austin Romaine, Texas Tech
  • LB: Cade Uluave, BYU
  • DB: Brice Pollock, Texas Tech
  • DB: Faletau Satuala, BYU
  • DB: Jamel Johnson, TCU
  • DB: Will James, Houston

Special teams:

  • K: Stone Harrington, Texas Tech
  • P: Palmer Williams, Baylor
  • KR/PR: J’Koby Williams, Texas Tech

Honorable mentions:

  • Arizona: DB Jay’vion Cole; LB Taye Brown
  • Arizona State: WR Reed Harris, DL CJ Fite
  • BYU: QB Bear Bachmeier, DL Keanu Tanuvasa, LB Isaiah Glasker, DB Evan Johnson
  • Cincinnati: OL Joe Cotton, OL Taran Tyo, DB MJ Cannon, P Max Fletcher, K Stephen Rusnak
  • Colorado: WR Danny Scudero, LB Gideon ESPN Lampron, KR Quentin Gibson
  • Houston: OL Drew Terrill
  • Iowa State: DL Isaac Terrell, K Kyle Konrady, KR Aiden Flora
  • Kansas: DL Leroy Harris III, LB Trey Lathan, KR Dylan Edwards
  • Kansas State: TE Garrett Oakley
  • Oklahoma State: QB Drew Mestemaker, LB Ethan Wesloski
  • TCU: WR Jordan Dwyer, OL Ben Taylor-Whitfield, P John Hoyet Chance
  • Texas Tech: RB Cameron Dickey, WR Coy Eakin, WR Malcolm Simmons, OL Sheridan Wilson, DB Brenden Jordan, DL Trey White
  • Utah: RB Wayshawn Parker, DB Jackson Bennee, KR Mana Carvalho
  • West Virginia: RB Cam Cook, P Bryan Hansen

Eugene Rapay covers Iowa State athletics for the Des Moines Register. Contact Eugene at erapay@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @erapay5.





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