Kentucky basketball closed Milan Momcilovic's recruitment five days after his 2026 NBA Draft withdrawal with a $1.5 million NIL package, according to multiple sources familiar with the structure. The 6-foot-8 forward from Iowa State averaged 15.8 points and 42.1% from three-point range this past season. He entered the portal April 8, declared for the draft April 15, then withdrew May 2. By May 7, he was a Wildcat.
The deal runs one year. It is guaranteed regardless of playing time or postseason performance. Kentucky's collective, The 15 Fund, structured the payment in monthly installments starting June 1, with backend incentives tied to NCAA Tournament advancement that could push total compensation past $1.8 million. Momcilovic's agent declined to comment on the breakdown. A person close to the negotiation said the guarantee alone ranked in the top three perimeter-player commitments nationally this cycle, behind only a Duke freshman and a Kansas transfer whose name has not yet been disclosed.
Kentucky needed this. The Wildcats lost four rotation players to the NBA and portal exits in a ten-day span in late April. Head coach Mark Pope, hired from BYU in March, inherited a roster with two scholarship players. Momcilovic gives Pope a plug-and-play floor spacer who shot 87.3% from the free-throw line and turned the ball over on just 8.1% of possessions last season, per KenPom. Iowa State's offense ran him off pindowns and drag screens; Kentucky's system, imported from Pope's Cougars tenure, leans heavily on dribble-handoff actions and spot-up opportunities. The fit is clean.
The price reflects supply scarcity. Proven high-major wings who can shoot 40%+ from deep and defend multiple positions do not hit the portal often, and when they do, the bidding starts at seven figures. Kentucky faced competition from North Carolina, which offered a lower guarantee but deferred compensation tied to future name-image-likeness rights, and from a Big Ten program whose collective ran out of liquidity after locking two frontcourt transfers in April. A second source said Momcilovic's camp preferred the Kentucky structure because it frontloaded cash and avoided revenue-share ambiguity ahead of potential athlete employment rules in 2025.
This was not Kentucky's first swing. The Wildcats pursued former Purdue forward Trey Kaufman-Renn in late April with a reported $1.2 million package; Kaufman-Renn stayed in West Lafayette. They also made runs at a top-50 freshman wing who chose the G League Ignite and a Big 12 scorer who re-entered the draft pool after missing the withdrawal deadline. Momcilovic was the fourth option. He was also the cleanest close.
Watch Kentucky's remaining two scholarships. Pope has one more portal window before late signing day, and The 15 Fund still holds $2.3 million in uncommitted capital, per a May disclosure filing reviewed by one donor. The staff is targeting a rim-protecting center and a backup point guard. Expect names to surface by Memorial Day weekend. Also watch Iowa State, which now needs a starting three and has $900,000 in unallocated NIL funds. Coach T.J. Otzelberger has been on the phone with a junior-college shooter from Kansas and a redshirt sophomore from a Mountain West program. One person close to the program said Otzelberger wanted Momcilovic back but would not exceed $1 million for a player with one year of eligibility remaining.
Kentucky's 2025-26 roster is now 60% transfers. The collective has distributed $8.7 million in NIL commitments since Pope's hiring, the highest April-May total in program history.
The takeaway
Kentucky's **$1.5M** guarantee for Momcilovic sets the floor for proven shooters in the portal and signals SEC collectives are outbidding legacy programs on liquidity alone.
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