Milan Momcilovic is a Kentucky Wildcat.
The No. 1 player available in the transfer portal this spring committed to Kentucky on Monday, and the way it all unfolded is almost too good.
Last Wednesday, Momcilovic pulled his name from the 2026 NBA Draft. He did it even with a second-round promise on the table. Kentucky was in. The waiting game began.
While the recruitment played out behind the scenes, Pope’s daughter posted a family beach photo, and the burner account crowd immediately ran with it. Pope wasn’t
working. Pope was on vacation. You know the drill.
His response? After landing Momcilovic, Pope posted himself on the beach, phone to his ear, with 50 Cent’s “Many Men” playing behind it. It’s a song he’d already used to close out a recent fan Q&A, and now it meant something more.
Darrell Bird then stepped in to clarify exactly when the Pope family was at the beach and how it lined up with the recruitment, putting the criticism to rest for good.
Monday night, just before 10 p.m., Momcilovic made it official. With him and Malachi Moreno both back, Pope now has a top-25 roster heading into Year 3. 
The critics said he was at the beach.
He was. Didn’t matter.
Many men.
