Kentucky basketball leading for elite 2025 center according to On3

Kentucky has the lead for an elite 2025 recruit.

Spencer County's Keaton Baird (10) looks on as Great Crossing's Malachi Moreno (24) scores two in the first round of the 2024 UK Healthcare KHSAA Boys' Sweet 16 in Lexington. March 20, 2024 / Matt Stone/The Courier Journal / USA

Coach Mark Pope has been extremely busy on the recruiting trail over the last few weeks trying to get some players in his 2025 class. When Coach Pope took the job in Lexington, the only real concern with his qualifications was whether he would be able to recruit elite prospects.

So far, all things seem to be going well for Pope as he has been pushing after some elite players in the 2025 class, and recruits are talking about how much they like Kentucky's new head coach. Recruiting is all about building relationships, and Coach Pope seems to be knocking this out of the park.

One player that Coach Pope really wants in the 2025 class is in-state center Malachi Moreno. The seven-footer is from Georgetown and attends Great Crossing High School. Since Coach Pope took over as the Wildcat's head coach, Moreno has been on campus multiple times, so he has a lot of interest in playing for the Wildcats.

Current Kentucky players Trent Noah and Travis Perry, who are from the state and know Moreno well, are trying to recruit him as well.

According to On3's recruiting prediction machine, the Wildcats have an 86.2% chance of landing the elite in-state big man. The next closest school is Indiana, with a 3.6% chance to land Moreno.

Coach Pope has a lead in this recruitment. It's now all about finishing the job, and to do that, he needs Moreno to keep coming on campus so he can sell his vision for how he plans to use him on the floor.