Mark Pope’s Kentucky grabbed the crown jewel of their 2026 transfer portal class by signing former Iowa State shooter Milan Momcilovic with a reported NIL deal worth ‘north of $6,000,000.
While Momcilovic was the best 3-point shooter in college basketball last season, shooting 48.7 percent from long range, he only attempted 3.7 3-point shots per game. Now, Mark Pope wants things to change.
In an interview with UK Sports Network on Monday, Momcilovic revealed that the third-year head coach is content with his efficiency taking a hit as long as Momcilovic maintains a steady shooting volume and doesn’t fall below the 136 3-pointer standard he set last season.
“Pope was telling me he doesn’t want me shooting 48 percent from three this year, he’d see it as a failure because it would mean I wasn’t taking enough. He wants me taking a lot more, 10 threes a game, and take that percentage down a little bit.”
This claim fits perfectly with what Kentucky needs from their biggest investment of the season, as Momcilovic will be expected to carry a major part of the offense after the team lost Otega Oweh and Colin Chandler, the team’s first and third leading scorers, to the NBA draft.
Meanwhile, Denzel Aberdeen, who contributed 13.5 points per contest, announced his decision to reunite with Todd Golden back in Florida.
While he was not certain of what the exact number is, Momcilovic also spoke on potentially breaking Kentucky’s single-season record for most three-pointers made in the upcoming year.
“Hopefully I can — I’m not sure what the record is for 3-point makes, but hopefully I can break it.”
Milan Momcilovic Can’t Wait To Play In The Rupp Arena
Milan Momcilovic has wowed fans in Iowa State’s Hilton Coliseum for three consecutive seasons. However, the arena – which boasts a capacity of just over 14,000 – does fall short when compared to the Rupp Arena, which can hold north of 20,000 spectators.
The 21-year-old shared his excitement about playing in front of the Wildcats faithful, saying:
“Haven’t even shot in there yet, so I think it’ll be really cool the first time I do that. I’ve been hearing about Big Blue Madness and understanding it; I think that’ll be really cool. To play in this arena that holds 21-something-thousand is gonna be really cool. I can’t wait.”
Momcilovic will be joined by returning by 4-star recruit Mason Williams and fellow transfer portal additions Franck Kepnang, Jerone Morton, Justin McBride, Alex Wilkins, and Zoom Diallo. While, Malachi Moreno, Braydon Hawthorne, Reece Potter, Trent Noah, and Cam Williams are the returning starters from last season.
Mark Pope will heavily rely on Momcilovic to lead the team’s offense as he looks to better last year’s Second Round finish amid mounting pressure to succeed.
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