{"id":681477,"date":"2026-06-03T08:11:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T08:11:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/681477\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T08:11:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T08:11:14","slug":"hope-is-now-on-its-way-national-media-reactions-to-kentucky-landing-milan-momcilovic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/681477\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Hope is now on its way’: National Media Reactions to Kentucky landing Milan Momcilovic"},"content":{"rendered":"

The news that Milan Momcilovic<\/a> is coming to Kentucky is the talk of college basketball today. The Cats have climbed into the Top 25 of many pundits\u2019 preseason rankings<\/a>, proof of the impact Momcilovic, the nation\u2019s best three-point shooter, can have on Kentucky\u2019s roster. It\u2019s such a big addition that Matt Norlander, the first national media member to give Kentucky the edge in Momcilovic\u2019s recruitment, said it could save Mark Pope\u2019s offseason and, potentially, his job at Kentucky.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no sugar-coating just how important this decision was for Mark Pope,\u201d Norlander wrote in a column on CBS Sports<\/a>. \u201cThe third-year Kentucky coach has been battling a PR problem with a decent portion of Big Blue Nation after a string of recruiting misses led to some understandable anxiety amongst many Kentucky supporters, if not the staff as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Norlander then detailed Kentucky\u2019s rocky offseason, which finally turned for the better last week when Malachi Moreno announced he was returning to Kentucky after testing the NBA Draft waters. Eight days later came the news that Momcilovic will join him in Lexington, filling some big holes in the roster, and, just as importantly, proving that Pope can land a big fish after missing out on so many. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was crucial for Pope to deliver some hope, and that hope is now on its way to UK in the form of a small forward who had a 136.9 offensive rating last season, good for 10th-best in college basketball,\u201d Norlander wrote. \u201cMomcilovic finally gives some credence to Kentucky\u2019s claim for preseason Top 25 status. In fact, his pledge bookends a vital eight-day span that has altered Kentucky\u2019s outlook so much for the better in 2026-27. The first hit of good news came May 24, when UK big Malachi Moreno announced he would return after experimenting with leaving for the NBA following a promising pre-draft process. Moreno\u2019s decision was no shocker, but his exploration led to, at the very least, some extended uncertainty. Moreno coming back was vital to Kentucky\u2019s prospects next season.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven with him back in the fold, Pope still needed one more good player to bolster a roster that could compete for top-five status in a stacked SEC. Momcilovic moves that needle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Norlander said he\u2019s hearing Momcilovic will make somewhere around $6 million to play at Kentucky next season, adding on the \u201cEye on College Basketball\u201d podcast<\/a> that the program will spend over $20 million on the roster again; however, unlike last year, they won\u2019t be alone. Norlander estimated that at least ten schools have spent $20+ million on their rosters this offseason, including Louisville. With Momcilovic picking the Cats over the Cards, a nightmare scenario was avoided.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was the other part of this that I thought was just so huge,\u201d Norlander said. \u201cIf Mark Pope had lost out on Momcilovic, who picked Louisville instead, one, Louisville, I think, would have had a top-five roster. I don\u2019t think you could make much of a case against it if you add him to what they already have. So it would have been that, and another high-profile whiff, and it would have been utter calamity and chaos in Lexington going into next season. They avoid that altogether, and now it\u2019s a bright, shiny day down there in that part of the state, and good on Pope for getting it done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Norlander\u2019s podcast cohost Gary Parrish did not have Kentucky in his preseason Top 25 and 1 before Momcilovic\u2019s commitment. He said that today, he\u2019ll probably put the Cats somewhere in the 10-20 range.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, they did what they needed to do to get themselves in a place to get that program back to where it needs to be so that you can ensure they\u2019re not making a coaching change next March,\u201d Parrish said. \u201cThey\u2019re in a good place now. It\u2019s not the best roster in the country, but it\u2019s a good enough roster to calm your fanbase down and give you a shot to reasonably think you can compete at or near the top of the SEC. And if you\u2019re competing at or near the top of the SEC, you\u2019re competing for a national championship.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Take advantage of our KSR+ SUMMER SALE to get bonus coverage of the Cats, including the latest intel on Kentucky\u2019s pursuit of Milan Momcilovic, football and basketball recruiting, and the search for a new Athletic Director \u2014 plus a year of access to The Athletic. Annual subscriptions are 50% off for a limited time.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI think they could be a Sweet 16 team\u201d<\/p>\n

The Field of 68\u2019s Jeff Goodman and Rob Dauster went live after the news broke to rave about the addition, Momcilovic\u2019s fit in Lexington, and a much-needed PR win for Mark Pope. <\/p>\n

\u201cI know that sounds crazy, but I don\u2019t think it is,\u201d Goodman said of Momcilovic potentially saving Pope\u2019s job at Kentucky. \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s that crazy, because I think year three is a pivotal year for Mark Pope in his future in Lexington, and I think with Milan Momcilovic, you add not only maybe the best shooter in the country to a team that sorely needs shooting, but you\u2019re adding a winner, you\u2019re adding a culture guy, you\u2019re adding a guy that helped build that Iowa State program into one that frankly we regarded as one of the best culture teams and overachieving programs over the last few years, and this is a kid that\u2019s all about the right things. He\u2019s all about winning, we\u2019ve been around him plenty, the highest of high character guys, that\u2019s where you start with Mark Pope.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goodman and Dauster went live again this morning and agreed that Kentucky probably isn\u2019t a title contender, but should at least make the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think they could be a Sweet 16 team, I think they\u2019re a top 20-ish team,\u201d Goodman said. \u201cYou put them 15 to 20, I think, in the preseason rankings right now, and I think so much of it is going to depend on how they play, too. Like, they better get out and run. I think that\u2019s their best bet right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dauster agreed, saying that Kentucky is now among the second tier of teams in the SEC, below Florida and Tennessee, with very high upside if everything goes according to plan. Better yet, he doesn\u2019t think things will fall apart with this roster like they did last season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would compare Kentucky now to North Carolina, where Kentucky has enough weapons on this roster, they\u2019re going to be able to beat some people. And outside of maybe Florida and Tennessee, there\u2019s nobody obviously better than them [in the SEC].\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if some things go the right way, what if Alex Wilkins has a breakout sophomore year where everything clicks, and what happens if Zoom Diallo works perfectly next to Alex Wilkins, Malachi Moreno ends up being a top-three center in the country. All of these things are possible, by the way, and you combine it with Momcilovic, Kam Williams, Ousmane N\u2019Diaye, Justin McBride, and Braydon Hawthorne gives you all sorts of different looks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf all of those things work out, there is a very real ceiling there. And I also think that because of the two pieces they brought in, the floor is pretty high. I don\u2019t see the bottom falling out of this thing unless it\u2019s a similar situation to last year, where it was a mental thing last year with the Gonzaga game and the Michigan State game. I don\u2019t see that happening with this group.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Every get is the next great one during transfer portal season and there\u2019s lots of them. That said, sometimes patience \u2013 albeit hard \u2013 can provide some relief. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s the case for Big Blue Nation. Milan Momcilovic is one of the best returning players in the nation. A complete\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 John Fanta (@John_Fanta) June 2, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Mark Pope did an excellent job in his first year at Kentucky when the Wildcats advanced to the Sweet 16.<\/p>\n

His second year was an incomplete after season-ending injuries to both Jaland Lowe & Jayden Quaintance. <\/p>\n

His third year now has major promise after adding Milan Momcilovic. https:\/\/t.co\/9A9YZUL4Gn<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) June 2, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s impossible to overstate the significance of this pickup for Kentucky\u2019s 2026-27 outlook \u2014 and Mark Pope\u2019s future in Lexington. <\/p>\n

Wildcats beat out Louisville and Arizona for Momcilovic.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) June 2, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Projected starting lineup for Kentucky<\/p>\n

PG Zoom Diallo
G Alex Wilkins
Wing Kam Williams
F Milan Momcilovic
C Malachi Moreno <\/p>\n

Two point guards, two snipers and a big man with NBA potential. Pressure is on for Mark Pope to win big because this roster fits his style. No excuses<\/p>\n

\u2014 Isaac Trotter (@Isaac__Trotter) June 2, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The news that Milan Momcilovic is coming to Kentucky is the talk of college basketball today. The Cats…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":681478,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[241596,99],"class_list":["post-681477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-milan-momcilovic-23-pewaukee","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=681477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681477\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/681478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=681477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=681477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=681477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}