4-star C Malachi Moreno schedules official visit to Kentucky

One of Kentucky’s top 2025 recruiting targets has locked in an official visit with the Wildcats.

Malachi Moreno, a 7-foot center ranked No. 25 overall by the On3 Industry Ranking, tells KSR that he will be in Lexington for his OV during the weekend of Big Blue Madness. This will be one of a handful of officials that the Georgetown (KY) Great Crossing big man will take this fall. He also has scheduled visits to Indiana, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Ohio State.

Going off the 2023-24 schedule, Big Blue Madness took place on Oct. 13, 2023. So expect a similar timeline for Moreno’s official visit this fall.

“It’s been going well,” Moreno said of his conversations with Kentucky. “I’ve been talking with (Mark) Pope every week, I talk to Coach (Cody) Fueger a lot, Coach (Alvin) Brooks. It’s been tight. I go up there every now and then just to check out practice, say what’s up to my friends Trent (Noah) and Travis (Perry). But it’s all love there and excited to see where it goes in the future.”

So far, Moreno has taken just one official visit, which was to Iowa in October. He also says he’ll take a day trip to Louisville in the future. Last month, he announced that he’s down to a top eight of Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisville, North Carolina, Notre Dame, and Ohio State.

“They [Kentucky] know their assignment, they know what they want to win, and Coach Pope, he brings in people who have actually been through it and won,” Moreno added. “He brought in Coach Tubby Smith the other day and he’s one of those guys who can walk in and be like I won one of those banners. I think bringing in people like that, it gives the players more confidence to think hey, we can win that too.”

As for a decision timeline, Moreno says the current plan is to commit before November after he’s taken all of his officials.