Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats received some massive news on Wednesday evening as it was announced that Milan Momcilovic will be pulling his name out of the NBA Draft and returning for another season in college. The 6’8 Iowa State transfer is the best shooter in the nation as he shot 48.7% from three on 7.5 attempts per game last season. This led to the junior wing averaging 16.9 points per game to lead the Cyclones.
Momciloivc scored 20 points when Iowa State took down the Wildcats in the Round of 32 last season, but he is looking for a new school to call home. The three schools that have been involved for a while now are Kentucky, Louisville, and St. John’s. There is a new school making a push, and this school, to me, is the one Kentucky should be worried about. That school is Arizona, which just lost star forward Koa Peat to the NBA.
Mar 22, 2026; St. Louis, MO, USA; Iowa State Cyclones forward Milan Momcilovic (22) speaks during the postgame press conference after the game against the Kentucky Wildcats during a second round game of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Le-Imagn Images | Jeff Le-Imagn Images
Arizona has been in contact with Momcilovic, but they are going to ramp up their push after the superstar, knowing that Peat is staying in the draft. Arizona doesn’t seem like a great system fit for the game of Momcilovic, but they will have a good amount of NIL money available, knowing Peat isn’t coming back.
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Kentucky does seem like the leader right now for Momcilovic, which is why the best thing for the Wildcats would be for him to commit before the weekend rolls around. If he were to commit before the weekend rolls around, I believe it would be to Kentucky.
Mar 22, 2026; St. Louis, MO, USA; Iowa State Cyclones forward Milan Momcilovic (22) shoots as Kentucky Wildcats guard Collin Chandler (5) defends during the first half during a second round game of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
What will get scary in this race is if it draws out for a long time, because that would mean that Momcilovic is really listening to what the other schools like Arizona and St. John’s have to say. It makes sense for Momcilovic to come to Kentucky, knowing he is a perfect fit and Pope has a ton of money to give him, but BBN has seen this story before.
There have been a ton of recruits in high school and the transfer portal that seemed like they were Kentucky-bound until they weren’t. If Pope wants to have a really good basketball team next season, then he needs to do everything in his power to land Momcilovic. If Kentucky is able to land Momcilovic, the outlook for next season will quickly become very positive.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/kentucky as A quick commitment would be best for Kentucky in the Milan Momcilovic sweepstakes .
