Ask Mark Anything: Did Kentucky men’s basketball overpay for Milan Momcilovic?
This week’s “Ask Mark Anything” includes questions about Milan Momcilovic, Mark Pope’s overall transfer portal recruiting strategy, Kentucky’s men’s basketball roster construction, UK baseball’s transfer portal needs and Mark Stoops and Tubby Smith.
Let’s get to it.
Question one comes from J.A. via email: “Six million dollars? Really? I think (Mark) Pope overpaid for (Milan) Momcilovic. What do you think?”
Mark’s reply: According to Matt Norlander of CBS Sports, UK secured the services of Milan Momcilovic with an NIL package “north of $6 million.”
In a free market such as the men’s basketball transfer portal, supply and demand sets cost.
Momcilovic, the sweet-shooting 6-foot-8 forward who led NCAA Division I in 3-point shooting (48.75%) in 2025-26 at Iowa State, was the last available high-level player in the portal.
Kentucky, which had missed out on several of its other priority portal recruits, needed a big get. The Cats also had a keen need for outside shooting on their roster.
As I wrote in a column last week, Momcilovic — because of the impact his shooting ability will have on how teams defend Kentucky — should be the key in allowing the other players on the UK roster to thrive.
Given all those factors, I don’t think you can say Kentucky overpaid to get Momcilovic.
Question two comes from Dan McCamish on Facebook: “If Mark Pope had invested his NIL monies in retaining players instead of them leaving, do you think he would have fielded a stronger, experienced team instead of starting with a practically new team?”
Mark’s reply: In an era when there is so much roster fluidity, player retention is REALLY important.
Even so, I like the new 2026-27 Kentucky roster better on paper than the 2025-26 version that we watched go 22-14.
In UK’s case, had you returned last year’s roster mostly intact, you would have presumably still had some of the roster construction problems that were widely commented upon last year.
I also think Kentucky was paying many players last season at a rate that exceeded their level of contributions.
To bring those players back, UK would have needed to align what it was paying with the level of contributions those players were capable of making.
One can’t blame players for not being interested in returning with reduced pay. One also can’t blame UK for not wanting to risk having a roster filled with disgruntled players who had taken pay cuts.
Remember, Kentucky is returning Malachi Moreno, Kam Williams, Trent Noah, Braydon Hawthorne and Reece Potter. In this era, five returnees is not a small number.
Question three comes from Mike Johnson on X: “How would you rate Kentucky basketball’s roster construction for the coming season? I think Braydon Hawthorne and Reece Potter are two underrated pieces of the puzzle.”
Mark’s reply: As stated above, I like Kentucky’s roster construction for 2026-27, especially now that Milan Momcilovic is on board.
As to the two players you mentioned, I am really interested in seeing Braydon Hawthorne play this season.
While the 6-8, 190-pound wing redshirted last season to gain strength, the word coming out of Kentucky’s practices was that Hawthorne was one of the most talented players in the program.
During the NCAA Tournament open locker rooms in St. Louis, I spoke to Hawthorne and was struck by how confident he is in his abilities.
Reece Potter will presumably compete with Washington transfer Frank Kepnang for backup center minutes behind Malachi Moreno.
The 7-1, 230-pound Lexington Catholic alumnus sat out last season as a redshirt after transferring from Miami (Ohio). Potter is skilled offensively — he shot 39.8% on 3-point shots in his two seasons at Miami.
We’ll see if Potter can claw his way into the UK playing rotation.
Question four comes from Clay Mason on X: “It seems like Nick M(ingione) played more freshmen than usual. Am I right? So what’s he looking for in the portal?”
Mark’s reply: Of the 16 players Kentucky baseball played in its season-ending 6-5, 10-inning loss to West Virginia in the NCAA Tournament Morgantown Regional finals, there were eight seniors, two juniors, three sophomores and three freshmen.
One of the freshmen who started in that game, catcher Owen Jenkins, has reportedly entered the transfer portal.
Given that the past two Kentucky seasons have been hampered by a lack of pitching depth, that would seem the logical place for UK coach Nick Mingione to concentrate his efforts in the transfer portal.
Question five comes from Paul Newman on email: “If only we didn’t have to read any of your editorial commentary. It is not enlightening whatsoever. You stated that both Tubby Smith and Mark Stoops where great coaches. Sad indeed.”
Mark’s reply: I don’t recall ever writing that either Mark Stoops or Tubby Smith were “great coaches.”
What I have written is that Tubby was, by UK’s exacting standards, a good, not a great coach. However, I do think, based on his overall coaching career, a Basketball Hall of Fame case can be made for Smith.
As for Stoops, what I have written is that he was the best Kentucky football coach of my lifetime.
The NCAA forcing UK to vacate its 10-win season in 2021 takes some of the shine off the Stoops era, but even without those 10 wins, he left Kentucky as the school’s all-time wins leader (72-80 officially, 82-80 “on the field”).
