Former Iowa State standout Milan Momcilovic committed to the Wildcats on June 2 after withdrawing from the 2026 NBA draft. While he was one of the most sought-after players in the portal, Pope revealed what made a major selling point during the recruitment process.
Speaking with KSR’s Matt Jones on Wednesday, Pope explained that the Wildcats had assembled a strong roster before Momcilovic officially entered the transfer market.
“He’s a very important piece to this puzzle,” Pope said. “He happened to come later in the story. But the nice thing was, one of the reasons why he came was because all the other pieces that we had put in place, they fit him so well also.”
“I do think Milan is a really important piece for us. Not because he was early or late, because he fits me,” he added. “He fits what I care about. He fits how we play. He’s a veteran, veteran guy.”
Momcilovic echoed the same sentiment after joining Kentucky.
“I think he holds guys accountable,” Momcilovic said on Kentucky Sports Radio. “If you shoot a bad shot, he’s going to let you know. So I think that’s really cool because he wants the best offense possible. So if you’re throwing up jump passes, turning it over, throwing up bad shots, he’s going to let you know, and he’s going to make you run for those things. Those are all ingredients for a bad offense, and we want to be one of the more efficient offenses in the country this year.“
“Definitely a learning curve, just probably the first week, honestly,” he added. “I think I’m comfortable now. But it’s just a little bit of a different language he uses. Obviously a little bit different offense, so you kind of got to learn and adjust to that. But I’m a veteran now, so I’ve seen a lot of things and I pick up on things really easily. I can feel the passion, the energy that he wants to have a really good year this year. He wants to exceed expectations.”
Mark Pope on Former Kentucky Player Otega Oweh
While discussing his current roster, Pope also reflected on the development of former Kentucky standout Otega Oweh, who was selected by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2026 NBA draft.
Pope admitted he originally envisioned Oweh as a defensive player off the bench before the guard quickly changed those expectations.
“When we first brought him in, I thought he was going to be an important piece. But I thought he would probably be a guy that came off the bench and took on defensive assignments,” Pope said. “He started every game from day one. He kinda beat out some guys that I had projected to be ahead of him and started every single game for two years. He was our most consistently productive offensive player.”
Instead, Oweh earned a starting role from the starting game and never looked back.
“Oweh’s special sauce is that he’s just an elite-level, every-single-day competitor,” he added. “He loves to compete. His happy place is competing.”
With Momcilovic now joining the program and Oweh beginning his professional career, Pope hopes Kentucky’s current roster continues the upward trajectory heading into the new season.
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