How far will the ripples go? With former Iowa State Cyclones star Milan Momcilovic picking the Kentucky Wildcats over the Louisville Cardinals and Arizona Wildcats, that changes the calculus just a bit for a contending basketball program like the Duke Blue Devils. While picking Kentucky was easily the best option for Duke of the three, Jon Scheyer's team is not fully in the clear just yet from all this...
Duke fans may have loved seeing this tweet from Jon Rothstein Monday night, but what comes next?
Source: Iowa State transfer Milan Momcilovic has committed to Kentucky.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) June 2, 2026
While Louisville may still be the Blue Devils' biggest threat in the ACC, there is another team that could be making up some ground in the conference, based solely on the Cardinals' failed acquisition of the former Iowa State star. That would be the Virginia Cavaliers. Ryan Odom may only be entering his second year at UVA, but the had the Hoos winning 30 games after a strong two-year run at VCU.
Odom is a bit of a job-hopper, but he is a head coach who has won everywhere he has been before...
Duke must focus in on Virginia after Milan Momcilovic chooses Kentucky
While Virginia is the sixth program Odom has overseen, he has taken his last four to the NCAA Tournament (Virginia, VCU, Utah State, UMBC), as well as Lenoir-Rhyne at the Division II level. He regularly wins 20-plus games a season wherever he is coaching. Given how great a program UVA was under his predecessor, Tony Bennett, it might not take long for the Hoos to be as good as ever.
What is important for Jon Scheyer and his staff to understand is that the Blue Devils will be getting a double dose of Virginia on this year's ACC schedule. Duke drew UVA as its variable opponent. Obviously, Duke plays UNC home-and-home annually as part of their 18-game ACC schedule. Picking up another top-five team twice to help round out the slate makes things even more difficult.
Read more: Jon Scheyer makes 2 cutting-edge additions to his Duke basketball staff with NBA ties
Overall, there is always going to be a threat coming at you, no matter what conference, division, or league you are sitting atop of. While there can be several hunters, there is only one hunted... That would be Duke until proven otherwise in ACC play. Even without Momcilovic, Louisville is still a very serious threat. So too is Miami. While UNC gets all the vitriol, Duke cannot overlook UVA this season.
Ultimately, Scheyer not only has to prove himself right, but Jay Bilas as well. He may be leading one of the best programs in the country, but he is still rather green at this. 2026-27 will only be year five for Scheyer since taking over for Mike Krzyzewski in Durham. Odom might be newer to the ACC, but he has cut his teeth at a myriad of other jobs for this big opportunity at UVA. The Hoos are a real threat.
Momcilovic is tasked with elevating Kentucky upon arrival, but Odom is doing just that for Virginia.
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