Milan Momcilovic has changed the national conversation around UK basketball
It would be difficult to overstate the importance of Milan Momcilovic’s commitment to Kentucky and the bearing it will have on Mark Pope’s third season in charge of the program.
That’s reflected in the latest Top 25 rankings for the 2026-27 college basketball season.
Before Momcilovic committed to the Cats late Monday night, Pope’s program was nowhere to be found on the updated lists from the most prominent national outlets covering the sport.
That’s no longer the case.
The commitment of Momcilovic, who was the top 3-point shooter in the sport last season and arguably the best player in the transfer portal this spring, has led to major gains for UK on those Top 25 lists, a rare case of one player moving the needle so drastically in a positive direction.
ESPN’s Jeff Borzello was among the first national analysts to shake up his list in the hours following Momcilovic’s decision. The ESPN rankings featured 30 teams when last updated Monday morning. Kentucky was not among them.
After the 6-foot-8 forward pledged to the Cats, they vaulted to No. 17 in those rankings.
“Momcilovic’s commitment dramatically changes (Kentucky’s) 2026-27 outlook, giving them the best shooter in the country and a legitimate focal point on offense,” Borzello wrote. “Transfer guards Zoom Diallo and Alex Wilkins are both dynamic off the dribble, and Momcilovic’s gravity and spacing will make them far more effective. … The offensive potential of this group is as high as any team in the country.”
Pope came to Lexington with promises of a high-octane offense after his final BYU team ranked No. 14 nationally in offensive efficiency despite a roster that was picked to finish near the bottom of Big 12 play that season.
Kentucky ranked No. 10 nationally (according to KenPom) in offensive efficiency in Pope’s first season despite injuries to key scorers and playmakers. UK fell to No. 40 in those ratings last season, another campaign marred by injuries that negatively affected a scoring attack already taking a bit of a backseat due to Pope’s shift toward a more physical, defensive-minded roster construction.
The UK coach has crafted what could be an offensive juggernaut for Year 3, with Diallo and Wilkins, a couple of gifted creators, projected to start in the backcourt, floor spacers like Momcilovic, Kam Williams and Braydon Hawthorne set for key roles on the wings, international prospect Ousmane N’Diaye offering immense upside at power forward and returning starter Malachi Moreno capable of keeping the ball moving from the 5 spot.
On Tuesday night, CBS Sports national analyst Gary Parrish updated his Top 25 rankings to reflect Momcilovic’s addition. Before the commitment, the Cats weren’t on the CBS list. Now, they’re No. 17 nationally.
“UK’s third-year coach didn’t just buy a 6-foot-8 sharpshooter Monday night,” Parrish wrote. “He also bought five months of peace and happiness because, for the very first time this offseason, Kentucky fans can now look at the projected roster and reasonably conclude that Pope and his staff have acquired enough talent to build a team that can theoretically compete with college basketball’s other title contenders.”
While Momcilovic’s total NIL/revenue-sharing compensation package remains unconfirmed, the final number is thought to be exorbitant, with CBS reporting a deal that will be worth around $6 million for one season and other estimates going even higher.
As Parrish points out, it was probably money well spent, whatever the price.
In a single move, Pope was able to alleviate some fans’ concerns over the direction of the program while turning a merely intriguing roster into one that can realistically expect to be in the mix for the program’s first trip to the Final Four in 12 years.
College basketball analyst Jon Rothstein’s constantly updated top 45 list best exemplifies how much the thinking around these Cats has changed with that one move. In the pre-Momcilovic rankings, he had Kentucky at No. 40 nationally. On Tuesday morning, UK was up to No. 16 in the country, a jump of 24 spots based on the addition of a single player.
Not everyone is quite as sold on Pope’s roster.
The Torvik ratings have Kentucky at No. 23 nationally, though that’s still a rise of 12 spots with Momcilovic’s commitment. And those (admittedly early) computer projections don’t take the full progression of UK’s relatively large number of high-upside players into account.
Sports Illustrated also updated its rankings to include Kentucky at No. 23 in the country.
That’s barely inside the Top 25, but it’s better than the alternative.
With one move, Kentucky has completely changed the national conversation around its 2026-27 season.
This story was originally published June 3, 2026 at 6:00 AM.
