‘Kentucky would be a good fit.’ And Milan Momcilovic knows Mark Pope needs him
Several times during his meeting with reporters at the NBA Combine this week, Milan Momcilovic’s eyes widened as he referenced what could be waiting for him if he pulls out of the 2026 draft.
“Some of the numbers I’m hearing are pretty crazy,” he said at one point.
Care to pass along some of those eye-popping figures?
“Ehhhh, I’m not going to share them right now,” he said with a grin.
But there’s no escaping the reality of the situation.
“I mean, I could get more money in college — that’s the bottom line — than a contract in the NBA right now,” Momcilovic acknowledged.
That said, his dream is to play in the NBA, and that’s where the entirety of his focus remains. For the time being, at least. Meanwhile, the focus of much of the college basketball world — particularly that of the two largest fan bases in Kentucky — remains fixated on him.
Momcilovic — a 6-foot-8 forward from Pewaukee, Wisconsin — has started 101 games over the past three years at Iowa State, where he established himself as the best 3-point shooter in college basketball this past season.
As a junior, Momcilovic led the country in both 3-point percentage (48.7%) and 3-point makes (136) over 37 games with the Cyclones, who ended Kentucky’s season in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, an early March exit that has ratcheted up the pressure on Mark Pope as he enters his third year as UK’s head coach.
Pope has put together an intriguing roster this spring, but it’s not one that’s getting the Cats much love on the preseason Top 25 lists.
He’s still waiting on an NBA-or-UK decision from Malachi Moreno — another Combine invitee this week — but even if the 7-footer returns to Lexington for his sophomore year, Kentucky likely needs more firepower to truly be a national contender going into the 2026-27 campaign.
Momcilovic appears to be Pope’s best shot at landing such a player, and another reality at this relatively late stage in the transfer portal process is Kentucky’s status as one of the few teams in a position to make a serious run at his services.
“There’s not a lot of schools that still have a lot of money and a lot of roster spots left,” Momcilovic said. “So it’s not like I’m choosing between 15 schools. It’s going to be three or four.”
And Kentucky, he made clear, is in that group.
“I personally haven’t talked to them yet,” he said. “I know some people around me have talked to them. So, they’re in there. I’ll say that. But I’m not really focused on that route right now.”
The chatter around the Combine this week put three schools squarely in the mix for Momcilovic, should he opt for a return to college: Kentucky, Louisville and St. John’s.
The Cats are flush with NIL cash after losing to Kansas for No. 1 high school recruit Tyran Stokes, failing to coax star point guard Rob Wright from BYU and losing highly touted transfer forward Donnie Freeman to St. John’s earlier in the cycle.
Louisville already has the No. 1-ranked transfer class in the country, according to 247Sports, but Pat Kelsey’s program clearly still has money to spend, with some at the Combine actually viewing the Cards as the most likely landing spot for Momcilovic.
St. John’s, according to the buzz in the building this week, is more of a long shot in this pursuit, meaning the quest for Momcilovic — the top-ranked player still left in the portal — could very well come down to Kentucky vs. Louisville.
It shouldn’t be taken as a bad sign that the star forward said Wednesday that he hadn’t personally spoken to Pope — or anyone else from UK’s staff — yet. He told the Herald-Leader that he hadn’t talked directly to any college coaches.
Momcilovic entered the transfer portal with a “do not contact” tag. Often, that means a player already knows where he’s going. In other cases, including this one, it means a player simply doesn’t want to be bothered.
“The ‘do not contact’ thing actually kind of worked,” he said with a smile. “I didn’t think it would work. Obviously a couple of coaches are gonna text me here and there that I’ve had in my contacts. But for the most part, it’s been good.”
The “do not contact” designation does not apply to agents, however, and Momcilovic said his has been fielding plenty of calls over the past few weeks, including some from Kentucky’s staff.
His top priority is the NBA draft, but his demands to remain in this year’s pool might not be met.
Momcilovic said if he gets a first-round guarantee, he’ll stay in the draft, but the most prominent boards don’t have him ranked that highly with the May 27 withdrawal deadline looming.
“Obviously, the biggest question is defense,” he said. “All these white shooters, they get picked on for their defense. … That’s the question mark around me, because it’s different than college. You know, Iowa State, we had a top-five defense all three years. So that kind of helped me show I could be in a good defense. But at the same time, in the NBA, you’re going against the best in the world. And you get some help, but sometimes you’re on an island.”
Momcilovic acknowledged his shortcomings, from a pro perspective. “I’m not the most gifted athlete in the world,” he said, grinning again. But he also knows what he can bring to the floor is what just about everyone in college basketball would love to have for next season.
And a few schools would be ready and willing to pay handsomely for his commitment.
In Kentucky’s case, such a move could be a season-changer.
The Cats’ likely starting backcourt of Zoom Diallo and Alex Wilkins is an intriguing one. Moreno projects as one of the most talented young centers in the country, if he returns. Kam Williams will be back for a second season at Kentucky, and he appears to be the starting 3 for the Cats, who will also have another intriguing wing, Braydon Hawthorne, on the roster after he sat out his freshman year as a redshirt.
At the 4, there’s international addition Ousmane N’Diaye, but he’ll be an unknown as he transitions to American basketball. UK also picked up veteran transfer power forward Justin McBride, but — for a program with hopes of a Final Four-type season — he looks like a better fit as a depth piece in the frontcourt.
Momcilovic is well familiar with Pope’s approach. His Cyclones knocked the Cats out of the NCAA Tournament in March, but Iowa State also played BYU twice during the 2023-24 season, which was Pope’s last in charge of the Cougars.
BYU led all high-major college teams in 3-point attempts that season, an approach Pope has repeatedly said he’d like to adopt at Kentucky, though the circumstances of his first two seasons on the job have not allowed for it.
“I think Kentucky would be a good fit,” Momcilovic told the Herald-Leader. “I obviously went against Pope at BYU his first year (in the Big 12), and I loved how his team played. I think we went 1-1 against them, but they killed us at their place, because they fly the ball up the court and shoot 3s. I really like the way they play.
“And obviously Kentucky last year, he didn’t have enough shooters around him to really coach, I feel like, the way he wanted. But I think — if I were to choose Kentucky — that would be a good fit for me. I feel like I’d be a great player for him, and he’d be a good coach for me.”
When the time comes — and that time is coming soon — Momcilovic will weigh the pros and cons of his next basketball move. He has workouts scheduled with NBA teams between the end of the Combine this weekend and the May 27 withdrawal deadline, so Kentucky and Louisville and everyone else might be waiting a little while longer on that decision.
If not for the NIL reforms of recent years, the decision would have already been made. “I would just be in the draft,” he said. In the end, it might make more fiscal sense to return to school for a fourth year.
If that’s the case, the money will be nice. But fit will be important, too. And it sounds like Kentucky is in a spot to check both of those boxes.
“I’m not gonna go money hunt for like the top school that offers me the most money,” Momcilovic said. “So, I mean, obviously it’s really cool to hear some of those numbers, and it’s tempting. But for me, I don’t need all that. I just need a good spot where I can go.”
This story was originally published May 15, 2026 at 6:01 AM.
