COLUMN: Addition of Momcilovic easing anxiety of anxious UK fans

Kentucky coach Mark Pope can relax now that next year’s roster reconstruction is mostly complete. At least for a few days anyway.

Pope and his staff deserve kudos after securing a commitment from coveted Iowa State transfer Milan Momcilovic on Monday, providing an immediate boost to next year’s roster. Momcilovic’s decision took several days to make after he withdrew from the NBA Draft.

Momcilovic entertained offers from Louisville and reportedly a last-minute push from Arizona, but ultimately, Momcilovic stuck with Kentucky, mainly because of his familiarity with Pope’s style of play (a big payday was coming no matter which school he chose). He remembered Pope’s BYU teams and considered himself to be a great fit for Pope’s system.

The 6-foot-8 forward has a reputation as one of the top 3-point shooters in the nation and shot 48 percent from behind the arc. He made 136 3-pointers and attempted 7.5 treys per game last year, double the amount made by Kentucky’s top two perimeter shooters from last season — Collin Chandler and Denzel Aberdeen. Chandler and Aberdeen combined for 135 3-pointers, one less than Momcilovic and 19 more than Kentucky’s school record for 3-pointers made, a mark held by Jodie Meeks.

That’s good news for Pope, who envisioned the Wildcats making 3-pointers at will when he took over for John Calipari more than two years ago. While at BYU, Pope consistently wanted his team to meet the goal of attempting 30 or more 3-point field goals per game.

Pope’s first two teams fell short of that goal, mostly because of unfortunate injuries during his first two years as coach of the Wildcats. The addition of Momcilovic gives Kentucky Pope’s best outside threat since Koby Brea and the program’s best long-range shooter since Meeks, who holds the school record for most threes made in a game (54) and the most made in a season with 117. The 54-point outing and 10 treys by Meeks on Jan. 13, 2009, in Knoxville broke Dan Issel’s 53-point mark set in 1970, a mark that remained intact for 39 years.

Momcilovic recipe for success behind the arc involves “jelly beans,” which he typically utters nearly before a field goal attempt. A sports psychologist came up with the idea last season to help Momcilovic stay focused and comfortable prior to shooting the ball.

“In previous years, I would always think maybe something is wrong with my shot, maybe I'm not holding my follow-through, maybe the arc on the ball is not the best,” he said during the NCAA Tournament. “He said just think about something, just one word before you shoot, and he came up with the word. I try to use it, but it doesn't happen every time because I'm thinking about other stuff during the game. That was one tip he used. I'm shooting way better this year than I was last year, so it probably worked a little bit.”

While the addition of Momcilovic provides a boost for the Wildcats, the return of Malachi Moreno, who also withdrew from the NBA Draft, will give Pope and his staff a 1-2 punch from two prominent superstars the team has lacked in the first two years of the Pope era.

Moreno’s return and the addition of Momcilovic put Big Blue Nation at ease. At least for a few months.