Kentucky forward Milan Momcilovic added another line to a growing preseason résumé on Thursday, landing on the NABC Division I Player of the Year watch list.
Momcilovic is one of 20 players on the initial preseason list and one of six SEC representatives included. The honor comes from the National Association of Basketball Coaches and will be decided by a nationwide vote of Division I head coaches after the regular season.
The winner will be announced the week of the 2027 Men’s Final Four. The award has been handed out every year since 1974-75, and Oscar Tshiebwe remains the only Kentucky men’s basketball player to have won it, taking home the trophy in 2022.
The 6-foot-9 forward arrives in Lexington with plenty of momentum after a standout junior season at Iowa State. Momcilovic led the nation in total 3-pointers made with 136 and also paced the country in 3-point field goal percentage at 48.7%, all while averaging a career-best 16.9 points per game. That performance earned him Second Team All-Big 12 and Big 12 All-Tournament Team honors as he helped guide the Cyclones to a 29-8 record and a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
His scoring profile was as consistent as it was explosive. Momcilovic reached double figures 29 times last season, and 14 of those outings went for 20 points or more.
His 136 made threes finished second on the Big 12’s all-time single-season list and also set an Iowa State program record. Over three seasons in Ames, he knocked down 260 threes, tying for the second-most in school history.
In 102 career games with 101 starts, he averaged 13.2 points and 3.2 rebounds while shooting 42.9% from deep.
That kind of production has carried over early at Kentucky. Through three exhibition games, Momcilovic leads the team with 16.7 points per game. He has shot 9-of-20 from beyond the arc, 15-of-31 overall, and has added 5.7 rebounds per game while going a perfect 11-of-11 at the foul line.
The preseason recognition has stacked up for Momcilovic ahead of the 2026-27 season. He has already been named a preseason All-American by CBS Sports, 247 Sports and Sports Illustrated, picked for the preseason watch list for the Julius Erving Award, and selected as a preseason All-SEC choice by both the coaches and media.
Kentucky opens the regular season on Nov. 3 against Manhattan, with tipoff set for 7 p.m. at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. The game will air on SEC Network+.
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Former Kentucky Guard Sees Early Promise In Two Wildcats Standouts
Travis Ford left Lexington with a strong impression after Kentuckys exhibition game, and it was easy to see why. The former Wildcats guard and coach came away talking about both Malachi Moreno and Milan Momcilovic, seeing early signs that each could become a real part of Kentuckys next step under the spotlight. Fords praise carried the kind of weight that comes from having worn the jersey and understood the pressure that comes with it.
Moreno drew notice not just for his promise on the floor, but for the way Ford described his character, while Momcilovic stood out for the shooting range and versatility that can change how a defense has to guard Kentucky. For a team always under a microscope, those are the kinds of traits that can travel well once the games start to count. The encouraging part is obvious; the bigger question is how quickly both can turn that early promise into something the Wildcats can lean on. [Read more 🡒]