The moment Malachi Moreno knew he was going to Kentucky

When you know, you know. And Malachi Moreno can point to the exact moment he did, the realization he would be staying home to play for Mark Pope as a Kentucky Wildcat.

The nation’s No. 1 overall center was down to eight finalists at that point with Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio State seen as the contenders — the Cats and Hoosiers considered the favorites with the former trending ahead down the stretch.

Then Moreno took an unofficial visit to Lexington with his brother, Eastern Kentucky basketball legend Michael Moreno. There, Pope showed them around the facilities in what would hopefully be the top-25 recruit’s next home, highlighted by a walk to midcourt inside Rupp Arena. The UK coach unfolded a couple of chairs and put them right there on the hardwood within that new state outline where they could all sit down and chat.

That’s when it hit him.

“I was on a visit at UK,” Moreno said Friday. “Coach Pope brought me and my brother to sit down in the middle of the court and I just felt it. It was just a feeling. God put me on this path, so I just chose to follow it.”

All of those memories of him rooting for the Cats as a kid watching all of his favorite players in blue and white came rushing back. He knew right then and there he wanted to follow in those same footsteps as a Cat himself.

So he did, finally making his decision public at a commitment ceremony at Great Crossing High School in Georgetown. And shortly after his announcement, his brother shared a photo of that very moment on social media. Moreno stood next to Pope with their arms stretched out like they were the honorary Ys in the middle of a game, the Kentucky head coach with a giddy look on his face while the No. 1 center gives an ‘I belong here’ smirk.

“BOOM,” the newest commitment’s brother wrote — a nod to UK assistant Cody Fueger.

And the rest was history.