Mark Pope and Kentucky have to go all in for Milan Momcilovic

Over the last week or two, the two goals for Mark Pope and the Kentucky coaching staff have been to get Malachi Moreno back for another year in Lexington and to land Milan Momcilovic. The first of these two is done as on Sunday night, it was announced that Moreno will be back for his sophomore season in Lexington.

With the man in the middle locked down for Pope’s Wildcats, now all focus turns to trying to land Iowa State transfer Momcilovic. Right now, the big competitor for the Wildcats is the NBA. It sounds like Momcilovic really wants to stay in the NBA Draft, but if this just doesn’t make financial sense for the sharpshooter, he will come back to college.

The other schools in the running for Momcilovic are Louisville and St. John’s. If he does pull out of the NBA Draft, I do expect some other schools to try and get involved, but right now, Kentucky, Louisville, and St. John’s are considered the big-time contenders.

Mar 22, 2026; St. Louis, MO, USA; Iowa State Cyclones forward Milan Momcilovic (22) celebrates with Iowa State Cyclones guard Tamin Lipsey (3) after a play during the second half 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

The good news for Kentucky is that they have a ton of NIL money left over because the staff missed on some of their top targets like Tyran Stokes, Donnie Freeman, and Rob Wright III. Missing on these guys in a weird way could be a big boost to Coach Pope in the potential sweepstakes for Momcilovic.

Coach Pope needs to go all in to try and land Momcilovic. Perhaps the staff might be “overspending” if they give him a ton of NIL money, but he is the best shooter in the nation, and this makes him a perfect fit for Coach Pope and the Wildcats.

It has been clear that Pope’s GM team has been advising him not to overspend on players, but with Momcilovic, it is worth it. Pope has to have a good team this year if he wants to stick around in Lexington, and without Momcilovic, this team just isn’t good enough. They will win some games and make the NCAA Tournament, but that can’t become the standard at Kentucky.

Coach Pope needs to throw everything but the kitchen sink at Momcilovic to try to get him in Lexington next season. Of the competitors, Kentucky is in the best position to land Momcilovic, so Pope needs to do everything in his power to get it done. Mark Pope needs to go all in on Mian Momcilovic.

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