Milan Momcilovic has officially removed his named from the 2026 NBA Draft and will return to college for his senior season.

Kentucky leads in his recruitment, followed closely by St. John’s, Louisville and Arizona. A backdoor to Iowa State is also still open.

The No. 2 ranked transfer would be a huge addition to Kentucky’s 2026-27 roster if he committed, averaging 16.9 points per game on 50.6/48.7/87.8 shooting splits last year. Funny enough, in the current world of college athletics that we live in, Momcilovic was responsible for eliminating the Wildcats from the NCAA Tournament, dropping 20 points in the Round of 32.

He would go on to lose to Tennessee in the Sweet 16 with Iowa State, so at least we know that there’s some inner-hatred for a long-standing rival if he ends up a Wildcat.

He made the most three-point shots in Division I basketball and is a versatile 6-foot-8 wing, which would fit perfectly into Mark Pope’s offensive system. He completed workouts with the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves during the draft process.

Now, the bidding war for the top dog begins, with some of the most prestigious programs in the sport placing their bets on the star forward.

One of the biggest pieces of the 2026-27 roster has officially made a decision. Malachi Moreno, the Georgetown, Kentucky native, will forgo the 2026 NBA Draft and return to the Wildcats for his sophomore season!

As time went on, Moreno proved through personal workouts and in-gym drills that he could play the game of basketball at the next level, eventually drawing interest from teams slated with the first 20 picks of the draft. The 7-foot big had eyes on him from teams such as the Atlanta Hawks, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics.

Ultimately, the former state champion and his camp felt that the deal offered from Mark Pope and his staff was just too sweet, with the idea of developing even further and potentially becoming a lottery pick in next year’s draft making logical sense for both sides.

In his freshman season, Moreno averaged 7.8 points per game, 6.3 rebounds per game and 1.5 blocks per game, all on 58.2% shooting. As many assume, this was just a trial for what he can become on the court.

Videos circulated on social media of Moreno hitting jump shots from deep range, visibly looking stronger and more confident in his decision making. Although he decided to not participate in the NBA Combine, a strong indicator for his return to college, it would’ve certainly been interesting to see what type of statline he could’ve produced against the league’s future stars.

Nonetheless, Moreno is back in the blue and white for one more go at No. 9 with Pope and his new teammates. This time, he won’t be predicted as the third best center on team, or plagued with the freshman tendencies – he’ll be ready to start at the five from the moment he arrives in Lexington.

No. 24 is back.

Mark Gottfried was a college basketball coach for 33 seasons, coaching hundreds of players, and coaching alongside dozens of coaches. When you ask him to sum up one of those former players, Mo Williams, he pauses for just a moment before landing on two words. 

“Home run.”

Not for Mo. Not for Kentucky. For both.

“I thought it was a home run for Mo, but I thought it was a home run for Kentucky basketball,” Gottfried told KY Insider. “An absolute home run.”

That’s the endorsement behind Kentucky’s newest hire, coming from a man who has known Williams for the better part of three decades.

Gottfried recruited Williams as a McDonald’s All-American out of Jackson, Mississippi, coached him to SEC Freshman of the Year and Sporting News National Freshman of the Year honors at Alabama, and later hired him for his first coaching job at Cal State Northridge.

Watching Williams from every angle the game allows, few people are better equipped to tell Big Blue Nation what Kentucky is getting in its newest staff member.

In high school, Mo Williams was one of the most talented guards in the nation. Gottfried saw it, but so did everyone else, and he had to battle against the likes of North Carolina and Kentucky to land his services.

In that pursuit, Gottfried learned what separated Williams from the rest of the guards in his class wasn’t just his ability; it was his foundation.

“Mo and their family, they were kind of old school,” Gottfried recalled. “Mom was a school teacher. Dad worked at Jackson State. Brother had gone to West Point. Their family unit was so good and so strong. The more I recruited him, you just realized, man, this is just a great family. Got great values and understood hard work, honesty, and loyalty.”

Once Williams arrived at Alabama, it didn’t take long for him to assert himself as the leader of the team, playing the most minutes of anyone on the roster as a freshman. There was a moment where Gottfried knew it was special, and it happened to come against Kentucky.

“I remember playing Kentucky, and there was a long rebound on a play, came back to about the foul line area. He got the rebound and turned, and Kentucky had two guys getting back on defense. He turned with the ball that just sprinted, sliced right in between the two of them, and just ran down and laid it in. He was so quick and fast, and I remember looking at my assistants going, ‘Did you just see that? Did you actually watch what I just saw?’”

Williams went on to win SEC Freshman of the Year, was named All-SEC as a sophomore, and enjoyed a 13-year NBA career, during which he was named an All-Star (2009) and won an NBA championship (2016). In the twilight of his career, he began to take on a mentorship role and helped him realize he wanted to become a coach. After having him as a player, Gottfried offered Williams a position on his staff at Cal State Northridge.

“I remember calling him and asking, ‘Do you want a coach?’ And he said, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘Well, this is a place where I can put you out on the road tomorrow.’ He said, ‘Let’s go.’ He was able to jump right in and get experience in recruiting, on the floor coaching, and all the things that go along with his coaching. He jumped all over it.”

Having known him for so long, Gottfriend believed that Williams would be a great coach, but there was one thing that surprised him.

“I didn’t know how much he loved to be in the gym with the players,” he said. “He loves it. He wants it bad. And you’re talking about player development — If I had a young player or a son right now who was a guard, I would want him to recruit my son.”

Gottfried provided an example of Williams’ player development with tangible results: two players, Darius Brown and Elijah Harkless, who signed with Cal State Northridge despite having no other offers. Harkless, the latter of the two, went on to put up 12 points and 6 rebounds against Kentucky in 2021 after transferring to Oklahoma. 

“Neither one of them had another division one basketball offer,” he highlighted. “Both are with NBA franchises right now. Elijah’s with the Utah Jazz, and Darius is with the Cleveland Cavaliers. And I think a big reason for that is Mo Williams. He got in the gym with them. I’m talking about every day now, along with his sons, by the way. I think even at Kentucky,  he can help those guys improve dramatically.”

“If those kids think he’ll walk in there and just coddle them every day, that won’t happen. He will challenge them every single day to get better. But he’s gonna do it in a way where there’s a lot of respect, and they’ll gravitate to him.”

Player development and his ability to relate to younger players are two important skills that Williams brings to Kentucky, but he also brings six years of head coaching experience, which most assistants don’t have.

“He’s been there. He’s had to call timeouts. He’s had to make hard decisions about players. He’s done everything,” Gottfried said. “A lot of assistant coaches have never been head coaches. They don’t truly understand the weight on the head coach. Mo does.”

The work ethic he had as a player has carried over to his coaching, especially on the recruiting trail, where he has already been working hard for the Wildcats.

“He’ll outwork everybody in recruiting,” Gottfried said. “He’ll outwork everybody in the gym. He loves the game. He loves basketball. He loves being around it.”

“He works extremely hard. He is incredibly humble. Never one time had any type of air about himself that he was all that, like some great players. Mo approached the game like he wasn’t even ranked in the top 500. It was crazy. He has no pretense that anything will ever ever be given to him. He’s worked hard for everything he has.”

Williams earned this opportunity through years of hard work, joining one of college basketball’s most iconic programs. He will look to capitalize on it, bringing the adaptability he has as a 13-year NBA veteran, and help Mark Pope and Kentucky turn the tide in a pivotal season.