The Kid Who Dropped 20 on Kentucky in March Has Kentucky in His Final Three

On March 22 in the NCAA Tournament Second Round, Milan Momcilovic scored 20 points on Kentucky — 6-of-12 from the floor, 4-of-9 from three, 4-of-5 at the line — and Iowa State sent the Wildcats home 82-63 to end their season. Seven weeks later, the same 6-foot-8 forward is the top uncommitted name in college basketball, and CBS Sports is reporting that Kentucky, St. John's and Louisville are the three programs 'in the mix' if he chooses to come back to college. Every talk show that's spent this month ranking Mark Pope's 2026-27 roster bottom-five in the SEC forgot to mention his name. Here's what they forgot: Momcilovic led the nation in three-point percentage at 48.7 percent last season at Iowa State, made 136 threes (also a national lead), and averaged 16.9 points on 50.6 percent shooting. At the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago this week he finished fifth in spot-up shooting, fifth in off-the-dribble shooting, and tied for first in free throws by going 10-for-10. He has until May 27 to withdraw from the draft. The honest read is that he's leaning NBA — Momcilovic told reporters at the Combine 'I'm focused on the draft,' and ESPN's Jeff Borzello has publicly said he expects Momcilovic to stay in. But for the next two weeks the nation's best shooter is sitting in a three-team conversation, and one of those three teams is a Mark Pope program that has spent the spring importing floor spacing. The story everyone's writing in May is that Kentucky can't land elite players. The story nobody's writing is that the kid who scored 20 on them in March hasn't ruled them out — and the deadline is two weeks away.