In the world of NIL in college sports, teams are spending more money than ever before in order to get players in their program, and every team does it. In college football, the transfer portal feels like a bidding war, and college basketball is getting to that point as well. Kansas certainly has been a spender in recent years.
As teams awaited the announcement of players returning to college basketball from the NBA Draft, there were some who knew where they would go after withdrawing, but some who had some big decisions to make. Former Iowa State star Milan Momcilovic is one of those players with a big decision to make, and it could come down to who will be the top bidder.
Former Iowa State forward Milan Momcilovic is withdrawing from the NBA draft and returning to college, his agents at @excelbasketball told me and @jeffborzello. Momcilovic, the best shooter in the country last season, is the No. 1 player in the portal and remains uncommitted. pic.twitter.com/5uUfJSTGrE
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) May 28, 2026
It seems like race has come down to Louisville, Kentucky, and Arizona. St. John's, at one point, was in the mix, but after a commitment from former Baylor star Tounde Yessoufou, the Red Storm got their big man.
The bidding war for Momcilovic has seriously grown, and it makes a lot of people wonder how much these teams are going to really spend. A decision could come soon, but Kansas fans have to be happy not to be in this madness, especially after the Tyran Stokes saga.
Bill Self investing in young talent is the better route for Kansas
Kansas could be in this bidding war for Momcilovic, but instead Self and his squad are pretty set with the young talent coming in. Kansas reportesly is giving Stokes a solid NIL package, and with another five-star recruit, Taylen Kinney, coming in, the money is probably a little tight in Lawrence. That could be the reason Kansas wasn't as big a spender in the transfer portal this offseason.
This bidding war for Momcilovic, who will only have one more year of eligibility remaining, is proof that Self made the right choice in going after young talent over experience here. Bringing in Stokes and Kinney could prove to pay off for Self more in the long run than going after Momcilovic for just one season.
Stokes is probably only staying in Lawrence for one season before heading to the NBA, but anything could happen, and he could choose to still witht he Jayahwks longer. The same goes for Kinney, who is probably more likely to stick around Lawrence at least for a couple of seasons.
While the details of Stokes' NIL deal haven't been released, Kansas is most likely spending less on a five-star recruit than they would have for Momcilovic. The best part of it all is if Stokes can be what everyone believes he has the potential to be for the Jayhawks, Self looks like ane xpert recruiting, doing it on a budget.
Being able to have two five-star recruits coming on that could last longer at Kansas than Momcilovic would seem like a no-brainer for Self. Now, he just needs to see that recruiting talent pays off next season.
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