A conversation with Milan Momcilovic on becoming a better player at Kentucky

Milan Momcilovic was Kentucky’s biggest roster acquisition of the offseason. 

ESPN ranked him as the No. 1 player in the transfer portal, and the 6-foot-9 forward was the best shooter in all of college basketball last season at Iowa State, where he led the nation with 136 makes from the perimeter and a 48.7% hit rate.

Momcilovic, who averaged 16.9 points per game with the Cyclones as a junior, is projected to be UK’s leading scorer this season. The Wisconsin native also wants to establish himself as a better individual defender ahead of the 2027 NBA draft after starting 101 games over the past three years in Iowa State’s vaunted defensive structure.

The 22-year-old senior sat down with Inside Kentucky Basketball to talk about the differences between Mark Pope’s system compared to his first three years in college, as well as how the UK coach’s offensive philosophy might help him show even more as a shooter this season.

Here’s that conversation:

Even going back to the NBA Combine, you’ve talked a lot about wanting to be a better defender before you took that jump to the NBA. What does that look like to you? 

“I think it’s as an on-ball defender. Because I've proven, I think, the last three years at Iowa State: I'm a good team defender. I'm a high-IQ player. I'm gonna be in the right spots. I'm gonna look at the scouting reports, see what the other guy's weaknesses are, and try to force him into that. But I think, at the end of the day, guarding 1-on-1, on the ball, that's not my strength. It's something I can get better at.

"And, you know, in the NBA, when they see a mismatch, they're gonna hunt it. I see it all the time: if there's a weak defender, they're gonna pick and roll him, come to the top, just try to attack him. And if it works, then they’ll keep going to it. So I think that's where they're gonna try to come at me. And that's where I gotta get better.”