Milan Momcilovic Picks Kentucky. Mark Pope Just Landed One of the Portal’s Best Shooters.
Mark Pope just landed one of the best shooters in the college basketball transfer portal. Iowa State’s Milan Momcilovic has picked Kentucky, ending a recruiting saga that pulled in more than a dozen blue-blood programs.
The 6-foot-8 forward averaged 16.9 points per game last season for Iowa State and led the nation with 48.7% shooting from three-point range. Yes, you read that right. Nearly half of his three-point attempts went in. In modern college basketball, that is the kind of marksman who changes a team’s offensive ceiling.
For Kentucky, this is the biggest single offseason addition since Pope took over the program. The Wildcats lost three rotation pieces to the NBA Draft and another two to graduation. The roster needed scoring punch. Momcilovic gives them exactly that.
The fit is interesting. Pope’s offensive system, which thrives on ball movement and spacing, was designed for shooters like Momcilovic. The expectation is that the 6-foot-8 wing will play a stretch-four role, allowing Kentucky to play multiple ball handlers without sacrificing floor balance.
Momcilovic also brings size at a position where Kentucky has been thin. The Wildcats are projected to start a small lineup with Otega Oweh at point guard and a freshman-heavy frontcourt. Momcilovic gives Pope a veteran who can guard either forward spot and stretch defenses.
Why he picked Kentucky over Tennessee, Duke, and Kansas: the NIL deal. Multiple reports indicate Momcilovic’s package is worth $1.5 million for the season, plus performance bonuses. That is in the top five of all transfer portal deals signed this offseason.
Pope and his front office have been aggressive in the NIL space since taking over in Lexington. The Wildcats have used the John Calipari pipeline of corporate sponsors and major donors to put together the kind of war chest most programs cannot match.
The Iowa State side of the story is more frustrating. The Cyclones built a top-25 team around Momcilovic and were poised to make another deep tournament run. Losing their best shooter to the portal is a body blow, especially because head coach T.J. Otzelberger has not been able to backfill the position.
The transfer portal is going to keep doing this. Mid-tier major programs develop talent. The blue bloods pay to take it. Iowa State will reload, but the lost continuity hurts.
For Kentucky, the question now is whether the rest of the roster comes together. Pope still needs another scorer in the backcourt and a more reliable rim protector. The recruiting class is strong but young. The transfer portal options at this point are limited.
Momcilovic is the kind of player who can carry an offense for stretches. He is not, by himself, a championship piece. Kentucky needs the supporting cast to develop quickly.
The bigger question for the sport is whether the SEC has now become the unquestioned best basketball conference. With Kentucky reloaded, Tennessee remaining strong, Alabama still competing, and LSU adding Mouhamed Dioubate, the SEC is going to be brutal next season.
Mark Pope has Kentucky pointed in the right direction. The Milan Momcilovic signing is the most important step yet. The Wildcats will not be the preseason No. 1 team in the country, but they will be in the top 10 conversation when the AP poll drops in October.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
