CRAWFORD | Blue smoke, big money and the high-stakes race for Milan Momcilovic | UK Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The Milan Momcilovic decision has been handed down. Blue smoke flew from the chimneys. And the man named for Italy's second-most populous city will play for a coach whose name mirrors the vicar of its first.

After a couple of anxious days, it was good news for Kentucky, and very good news for Mark Pope, who can come on home from whatever beach he's been posting a vacation pictures from while the rest of us were cycling through the circles of hell from Dante's Inferno back here.

Momcilovic, a 6-foot-8-inch transfer from Iowa State, chose Kentucky over Louisville, primarily, and also Arizona. In the end he went with Kentucky for the money. At least, that's how they tell it in Louisville and Tucson. In Lexington, he followed his heart.

Either way, his heart will be at least $6 million richer than it was before, reportedly. And Kentucky now is in possession of the best three-point shooter in the college game, nearly 49% from beyond the arc last season at Iowa State.

But the way it transpired over the past 48 hours was a drama that could've unfolded in few places the way it did in Kentucky.

Louisville believed it had plenty to offer beyond money — prospects for the season, culture, atmosphere. Who knows? Lots of places argue that. Arizona, for instance, is a higher-ranked team than either Louisville or Kentucky, with or without Momcilovic. The value of any of that to a recruit or his agent is debatable.

So, in the end, it was the money.

And while not undefeated, cash is hard to beat.

What Momcilovic means to Kentucky's roster is pretty clear. Bigs who can shoot are staples of Mark Pope's offense. He fits like a glove. He'll be well-utilized.

Pope now has the pieces of a team that should be in the preseason Top 15, which is no huge deal in Lexington, but no small step for the third-year coach trying to earn a shot at a fourth season.

They were beginning to get a little too creative with the "whiff" memes around the state and elsewhere.

This was Pope landing a bona-fide top-ranked transfer portal recruit. Let's not understate it. It's important. On and off the court.

But at least until the season starts, it's off the court where this is more interesting. The blue-vs.-red recruiting dynamic. The reported dollars involved. And the absolute madness that continues to pass for recruiting news.

The obsession was real.

At a golf event I covered: "What's Momcilovic going to do?"

In line at Kroger: "When is Milan deciding?"

Louisville gets a commitment from a four-star running back. "We going to get the big kid?"

For 48 hours, everybody seemed to have a source. Rumor arrived stamped as fact. Fact arrived dressed as rumor.

At one point Sunday, Louisville was perceived to be the leader. Posts circulated of Pat Kelsey celebrating. A feeling of doom settled over portions of the Kentucky fan base, and not just because of college baseball events in Morgantown.

Louisville was speculated to have raised its offer. Did it?

I have no actual information, on or off the record, that it did.

I do believe Louisville considered increasing its offer. I wouldn't be surprised if it narrowed the gap some. But I'm confident it never closed it all the way.

The decision dragged because Louisville was given the opportunity to come up. Not uncommon in a highest bidder situation.

Getting Momcilovic would've reportedly pushed the payroll north of $20 million on Floyd Street. Louisville is clearly willing to spend. It has spent as aggressively as almost anybody in college basketball this cycle.

No doubt, it could've kept going. But in this case, it stopped.

It's fair to say in the end the player meant more to Kentucky, all things considered.

But as a member of the media, what happened around the recruitment may be even more fascinating.

At the same time Sports Illustrated is laying off big-time writers, 60 Minutes has internal disputes spilling into the public and traditional outlets continue to lose resources, an army of anonymous social-media insiders is rushing into the void. Some have information. Some don't. Most operate with little accountability either way.

And because of the nature of recruiting (and news itself, sometimes), it's often impossible to distinguish the real from the fake until the decision is announced. And sometimes even then.

So by the time X poster Gob Gob proudly informed the world Sunday that it wasn't all about money and Momcilovic was headed to Louisville, the audience was receptive and the atmosphere changed.

Except it didn't.

In the end, Milan Momcilovic wound up exactly where most people thought he would wind up all along.

Kentucky got the player.

The only thing that changed over the weekend was that an entire state's basketball culture spent two days chasing internet shadows and debating them with the weight of actual reporting.

It’s nothing new, I suppose, but it still feels like a bigger story than one recruit.