If there’s one word that I can use to describe Milan Momcilovic, after hearing him speak to the media Thursday, it’s “smart.” Momcilovic is a smart player, but he’s also smart in the sense that he knows what’s happening around college basketball.
I asked him on Thursday if playing in the Big 12 has prepared him to play in the SEC, and his answer was revealing of just how much the game has changed.
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“A couple of years ago, I feel like the conferences were a little different,” Momcilovic said. “Now, I feel like they’re a lot more similar with everybody transferring. Obviously, the SEC is a little more faster and athletic. I would say just now with all of these transfers, it’s a little more closer together, the Big 12 and SEC. I feel like the transition won’t be too hard.”
That comment, to me, speaks to the parity that there is in college basketball. It also speaks to how much bigger all of the Power Four conferences have gotten. Both the SEC and Big 12 have 16 teams, while the ACC and Big Ten have 18 teams. Every conference is now a grind from January through March to win the regular-season title and then the conference tournament.
Momcilovic has played in 102 games in his college basketball career, and his first season at Iowa State was the last season of the Pac12. So, he’s seen college basketball before and after the big conference realignments. The fact that he’s aware of how the game has changed from that front is an asset for this Kentucky team.
There’s no question the Big 12 was an elite conference the last three seasons. Just look at last year, where Iowa State was the No. 5 seed in the Big 12 Tournament despite being No. 8 in the country… just weeks after being No. 2 in the country. Momcilovic is used to the grind of conference play in a conference as talented as the Big 12. As he said, transitioning to the SEC shouldn’t be too hard on that front.
