4-Star Center Malachi Moreno Announces Top 8

Malachi Moreno, the top-ranked center in the class of 2025, announced a top-eight list with Notre Dame, Arkansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio State, North Carolina, Iowa and Louisville.

Great Crossing's Malachi Moreno (24) and teammates celebrate the Warhawks' 48-46 over Newport at the 2023 Chad Gardner Law King of the Bluegrass holiday basketball tournament. / Matt Stone/The Courier Journal / USA

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Malachi Moreno on Monday narrowed his college list to eight schools, and Indiana made the cut.

Moreno will decide between Notre Dame, Arkansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio State, North Carolina, Iowa and Louisville.

Moreno is a 7-foot center from Great Crossing High School in Georgetown, Ky. As a junior, Moreno averaged 16 points, 13.3 rebounds, 3.7 blocks and 2.2 assists per game while shooting 66% from the field, per MaxPreps. Great Crossing reached the semifinals of the KHSAA state tournament.

In the class of 2025, he's a consensus four-star recruit ranked No. 16 in the nation by On3, No. 24 by Rivals, No. 26 by 247Sports and No. 68 in the ESPN Top 100.

Moreno is the nation's No. 1 center and the top-ranked recruit in Kentucky, according to On3. He recently competed in the NBPA Top-100 camp, where he averaged 17.7 points and 8.6 rebounds per game while winning all six games.

Moreno plays for Indiana Elite on the Adidas 3SSB AAU circuit, and he's teammates with fellow Indiana recruiting targets Braylon Mullins and Trent Sisley. All three have an official visit scheduled to Indiana on Sept. 20.

Indiana does not have any commitments in the class of 2025, though it's still early in the process. The early portion of the 2024-25 school year is a key time for official visits.