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Milan Momcilovic Injury: When Can Mark Pope Expect Star Transfer Portal Guard to Return?
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- Milan Momcilovic Injury: When Can Mark Pope Expect Star Transfer Portal Guard to Return?
Milan Momcilovic © Reuters
After a lot of dealing, Mark Pope found the crown jewel of his 2026 transfer portal additions in former Iowa State forward Milan Momcilovic. However, the season has not even started yet, and the Wildcats have received some concerning news regarding their star transfer, as Kentucky sports insider Matt Jones has reported that Momcilovic just injured his index finger during practice.
Jones has updated his report, revealing that the forward "severely jammed" his right index finger, which means that it was not as bad as many had feared.
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As for his return, there are still two months to go before the new season tips off, and this injury is not as serious as initially thought, so Momcilovic could be back soon. Jones noted that he could even be back shooting in just 10 days. Before the update, there were fears that he could miss some preseason exhibition games as Mark Pope gets him to rest up and recover.
Originally, it was reported that he broke his finger. The Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine notes that this type of injury usually takes 4 to 8 weeks on average, but as this was not as serious, it would be much shorter than that.
The injury Momcilovic sustained was to his shooting hand, which was reportedly in a splint. The former Cyclones forward is considered one of the best shooters in college basketball, so the injury could affect his accuracy.
Momcilovic averaged 16.9 points and 3.1 rebounds per game and was one of the top transfers in the nation when the transfer portal opened. Mark Pope went all out just to sign him, only for him to possibly miss their Nov. 3 season opener against Manhattan after injuring his finger. He originally declared for the NBA draft but soon withdrew, entering the transfer portal and picking Kentucky instead.
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Milan Momcilovic Considered a Top SEC Transfer
Hoops HQ ranked the top 10 transfers that SEC teams got this year, and Milan Momcilovic is considered one of them.
The Wildcats forward was ranked No. 3 on the list, just behind PJ Haggerty (Kansas State to Texas A&M) at No. 2 and Juke Williams (Wake Forest to Tennessee) at No. 1. He was touted as the nation's best 3-point shooter statistically after shooting 45% from behind the arc.
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