Kentucky men’s basketball head coach Mark Pope shared summer practice clips of center Malachi Moreno and forward Milan Momcilovic on social media back in July, captioning the post, “Solid practice this AM. How bout some M&M’s for lunch BBN?!”

As is customary with BBN, fans ran with the appellation, continuing to refer to the duo as the “M&M’s” across social media while discussing the major impact each could have on Pope’s attempt to mount a revenge tour during his third season at the helm.

A quick side note for those wondering how the “M&M” nickname came to fruition: it stems from the matching initials of Moreno and Momcilovic’s first and last names — I just wanted to make that clear for anybody behind the joke.

Malachi Moreno and Milan Momcilovic were at the center of the nickname following Pope’s social media post, but this past Saturday, that duo became a trio when UK landed highly touted 6-foot-9 Missouri transfer Mark Mitchell, the No. 6-ranked transfer in the portal.

What started as a playful nickname from Pope has quickly taken on a new meaning, as all three could play significant roles in determining how UK’s 2026-27 season unfolds.

Kicking things off with Moreno, we saw flashes of what the seven-footer is truly capable of after a rookie season that earned him a spot on the All-SEC Freshman Team. Across the board, the rising sophomore averaged 7.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists last season while shooting 58.2% from the field, bringing a gritty interior presence mainly highlighted by his ability to protect the rim and control the glass.

Through scoring and rebounding, Moreno totaled three separate double-doubles, surfacing against Valparaiso (home), Tennessee Tech (home) and No. 14-ranked Florida on the road.

On top of his scoring and rebounding production, Moreno also averaged 1.5 blocks per game, ranking eighth in the SEC among the 132 players who appeared in at least 75% of their team’s games.

Moving to Momcilovic, a 6-foot-8 Iowa State transfer, he is undoubtedly the most exciting newcomer to make landfall in Lexington this year. The rising senior averaged 16.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and one assist per game under Head Coach T.J. Otzelberger last year, while shooting 50.6% from the field.

Momcilovic recorded 27-plus points on six different occasions, with one of them coming against No. 2-ranked Arizona, the national runners-up in the semifinals of the 2026 Big12 Tournament.

Where BBN, rightfully so, raves over the former Cyclone stems from not just his scoring ability, but more specifically, his 3-point shooting ability. Momcilovic finished the 2025-26 campaign with the highest 3-point shooting percentage across the entire nation with an astonishing 48.7%; he made an average of 3.7 three-pointers per game on an average of 7.5 three-point field goals attempted. Absurd.

Finally, we have Mark Mitchell, a 6-foot-9 fifth-year senior and Kentucky’s most recent addition.

Mitchell already has the experience of playing for a “Blue Blood” program, beginning his collegiate career as a Duke Blue Devil, where he started in 67 of the 68 games that he played in under Head Coach Jon Scheyer across two years.

Following his two-year stint in Durham, Mitchell transferred to Missouri for his junior and senior seasons, and his final year in the yellow-and-black threads was by far his best. He averaged 18.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game (all team-highs) while shooting 54.7% from the field and 38.8% (0.6-1.5) from deep.

The newest Wildcat has tons of experience, starting in a total of 133 games across the past four years while touching the court in seven different NCAA Tournament contests.

Aside from scoring, rebounding, assisting, experience, and all that comes in between, Mitchell also helps bolster UK’s depth in the frontcourt, joining Moreno, Franck Kepnang, Kam Williams and Ousmane N’Diaye in what is now an intimidating unit.

The “M&M’s” trio has the potential to immensely impact the trajectory of UK’s upcoming season. Moreno provides the interior anchor, Momcilovic gives Kentucky another dynamic scoring threat, and Mitchell brings veteran leadership with the capability of impacting the game in a variety of different ways.

It should be a lot of fun.

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