Malachi Moreno is Kentucky’s new recruit for the 24-25 season and is one of Pope’s first true recruiting commitments as the head coach of Kentucky Men’s Basketball. Malachi comes from Great Crossing High School in Georgetown and stands at 6’11”. When it came time for Malachi to choose where he wanted to go, he said, “I’ve grown up a Kentucky fan, so it was obviously going to be hard to say no.’’ Ranked No. 24 overall player in the 2025 class, Moreno’s commitment was valuable in many ways for the Wildcats.

This is not the only good news Mark Pope has received on the recruiting trail. In September, UK added another five star commitment–a 2025 guard, Jasper Johnson,  former high school star at Woodford County. One of Moreno’s first tasks after he committed was to make sure that Johnson would be joining him at Kentucky. They both had a great time over the weekend at basketball camp in Colorado with Malachi saying “It’s great. Jasper is one of my brothers now; we’ve been boys for life.”

In addition to Johnson and Moreno, the Wildcats also recruited 2025 prospect, four star guard, Acaden Lewis from Washington, D.C. When asking Moreno if he thought this commitment would help the Wildcats, he said “I’d like to say I hope so, but at the same time, everyone has their own decisions. I just want to be kind of a kickstart.’’ 

So, after hearing all of these new players that are joining the Wildcats, do you think that this will be a good season, or at least better than what we have seen in previous years? It is the first year without John Calipari, a former University of Kentucky basketball coach, who led them to several wins throughout the years as head coach. Will the Wildcats be good this year or will Mark Pope disappoint us in the 24-25 season? To be determined.