With Khaman Maluach's Official Visit to Kentucky Underway, On3 Analyst Breaks Down His Game

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Khaman Maluach is taking his official visit to Kentucky this week. The 7-foot-2, 235-pound center from the NBA Academy Africa arrived on campus in Lexington on Monday and will attend Kentucky’s Tuesday night matchup vs. Ole Miss.

Maluach is ranked by On3 as the No. 2 center and No. 9 overall prospect in the class of 2024. Due to his status as an international prospect, he is not ranked by any of the other major recruiting media services.

On3 Senior National Recruiting Analyst Jamie Shaw first saw Maluach play over a year ago and has been continually impressed with his development. Shaw sat down with KSR+ for an interview, breaking down Maluach’s game while he’s currently on his official visit to Kentucky.

“It’s just continuing to get better,” Shaw said. “I can’t even imagine what he’s going to look like a year from now. There’s just a lot of natural stuff there that you don’t see a lot.”

‘Size Mixed With Fluidity and Athleticism’

Khaman Maluach is a unique physical prospect. At 7-foot-2, 235 pounds, Maluach has great length and dexterity, Shaw said.

“The most interesting part of what he has and what pops immediately is the size mixed with the fluidity and athleticism,” he said. “He has nice fluidity with how he moves. He’s not stiff at all. He’s able to move laterally and vertically, runs really quickly, and can change direction effectively.”

Maluach already has a very long reach. With his athleticism, he has great leaping ability for someone his size.

“The canvas that you’re painting on is someone that has unique physical tools as a baseline,” Shaw said.

Still, there are areas in which Maluach needs to improve if he hopes to be a lottery pick in 2025. First of all, he needs to get used to the speed of the game.

“He’s still relatively raw in what he does,” Shaw said. “While he does have a lot of the tools, just tightening every part of his game, making the reads a little quicker, the handle a little tighter, the jump shot a little smooth, the angle of screens, the footwork, and all of that stuff. The overall of continuing to hone, tighten, and develop all aspects.”

Khaman Maluach Can Play in Different Defensive Schemes

Khaman Maluach has already taken official visits to Kansas and Duke, with upcoming visits planned to UCLA and the G League Ignite. When it comes to choosing the right school, he needs to find a school that will continue to develop his game.

“He’s big enough that he can play in multiple different types of defensive schemes with his ability to move as a rim protector,” Shaw said. “He can switch and play in some drop, he can protect the rim and just move very well in different various defensive schemes.”

Offensively, Shaw said that Maluach can play out of the “dunker spot.” He can also play as a roll man in the pick-and-roll.

“He can even stretch the floor a little bit, shooting with touch, and has natural stuff there,” Shaw said. “Overall, I don’t think necessarily there’s a style of play that fits him best. I think more so a program that’s going to focus on his development and growing his game, investing in him as a player overall.”

Is He a One-And-Done Player?

One can expect a Top-10 recruit in the country to enter college as a one-and-done prospect, but Maluach was originally in the class of 2025 before reclassifying up. Given the depth of frontcourt prospects in the 2025 draft class, one-and-done is in the cards.

“I would have to think going into things, most likely, that will be the vision,” Shaw said. “Looking across that class, he’s one of the top centers. It’ll be about how quickly he develops.”

Then there’s the matter of the G League Ignite, which is among the programs he’s considering. He could potentially spend a year in college before going to Ignite.

“Going into it, I think the vision would be on the one-and-done side, but with an eye on continued development,” Shaw said.

Given what we’ve seen in the NBA over recent years, Maluach’s game is well-suited for the pros. There are several prototypes he has to learn from.

“When you go up against the Joel Embiids of the world and the [Victor] Wembanyamas – guys that are really big, long, tall, and athletic looking at the highest level past college – you need elite athletes,” Shaw said. “That’s something that’s unique for Khaman, which is making him such a high-level prospect. Looking past college into what the future is, his unique physicality is what makes him such a high-level prospect.”

‘He’ll Be Able to Come Along At His Own Pace’

The biggest question for Kentucky fans is where Khaman Maluach fits in this 2024 recruiting class. UK currently has the nation’s No. 2-ranked recruiting class with 6-foot-10 centers Jayden Quaintance and Somto Cyril already signed. Luckily, for Maluach, his skill set differs from the other two.

“Somto, Jayden, and Khaman all have differing skill sets,” Shaw said. “I’m not sure what it will look like playing them together, but I think they all bring something different to the table. It comes down to what they do and what they can do. There’s no real overlap when it comes to skill sets, but when it comes to positionally, there’s probably some overlap there.”

The roster makeup in 2024-25 plays a big role, especially given the team currently has three seven-footers on the roster: Aaron Bradshaw, Ugonna Onyenso, and Zvonimir Ivisic. If any of those three return, it could be even more of an uphill battle for Maluach.

“He’ll be able to come along at his own pace if he comes into that situation,” Shaw said. “If he beats out the other guys, he’ll get on the floor. If not, he’ll come along as things continue to develop.”