Michael Moreno says honesty separated Mark Pope, Kentucky in brother's decision

Malachi Moreno had offers from essentially every high-major program in college basketball to choose from before nailing down eight finalists: Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisville, North Carolina, Notre Dame and Ohio State. That’s a group that includes blue bloods, Hall of Famers, rich traditions desperate for a shot in the arm and everything in between. Whatever the No. 1 center in the class was looking for, he could’ve gotten.

But it was Mark Pope and the Wildcats who won out for the Georgetown native. And while the home factor certainly helped Kentucky‘s efforts, it was actually the head coach’s pitch that separated the local school from the pack.

Why? Pope told Moreno he had holes in his game and he was the coach to patch them up. He may not have a national championship quite yet as a coach, but he does know what it takes to win one as a player — specifically as a big man.

That was the difference.

“Pope is a bigs coach, and he was honest,” Moreno’s brother, former EKU basketball star Michael Moreno, told KSR. “He said, ‘Look, I’m not gonna tell you that I’m the best coach in the country. There are great coaches all around, great coaches that you’re gonna have the opportunity to play for. But I feel I’m best suited to coach you. There are things you’re not good at yet that I feel I’m great at coaching.’ He was honest with him.”

Plenty of coaches told the No. 1 center in the country what he was good at. Few told him he needed to fix some things to reach his potential. Pope was among the few, and the pitch worked.

“How many coaches are gonna sit there and tell a kid that’s highly sought after what he’s not good at? And tell him, ‘You may not be good enough yet,’ you know?” Moreno added. “How many people are gonna be that honest with you?”

Pope nailed the on-court pitch, but his off-court approach made an impact, as well. Kentucky’s head coach is a good person, plain and simple. And he wanted to help Moreno mature as a young man as he looks to make his professional basketball dreams a reality.

The in-state star doesn’t just want to make it to the NBA, he wants to make it in the NBA, focusing on those second and third contracts rather than just the first.

“Anybody that’s met Pope, you love him. That’s a great guy, a great human being,” Moreno told KSR. “He’s going to be a molder of men at Kentucky. That’s what you want to turn into, a man, both on and off the floor. I think Pope is well-suited to prepare him for life after ball, but prepare him to play and stay. That’s his dream: play and stay in the NBA.

“He’s excited and we’re very excited for him.”