Kentucky basketball receives crystal ball to land an elite seven-footer in the 2025 class
![Great Crossing's Malachi Moreno (24) and teammates mob Vince Dawson (1) in jubilation after Dawson's last second shot lifted the Warhawks 48-46 over Newport at Thursday's 2023 Chad Gardner Law King of the Bluegrass holiday basketball tournament at Fairdale High School. Dec. 21, 2023 Great Crossing's Malachi Moreno (24) and teammates mob Vince Dawson (1) in jubilation after Dawson's last second shot lifted the Warhawks 48-46 over Newport at Thursday's 2023 Chad Gardner Law King of the Bluegrass holiday basketball tournament at Fairdale High School. Dec. 21, 2023](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_5106,h_2872,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/wildcats_today/01j55vqb74wrmeq6ch11.jpg)
Mark Pope still has yet to land any recruits in the 2025 class, but according to one college basketball analyst, that could change soon. One player that Coach Pope has been after since the day he took the Kentucky job is seven-footer Malachi Moreno.
The center plays right down the road from Lexington in Georgetown at Great Crossing and is ranked as the 26th-best player in the 2025 class according to 247Sports composite rankings. 247Sports Analyst Travis Branham put in a crystal ball on the 12th of August for Moreno to commit to Kentucky. Branham is an accurate predictor as he is 92.95% all-time, and this is for 227 picks. He is also four for four predicting players in the 2025 class. The point being when Branham logs a crystal ball, he isn't wrong often.
At the end of the day, the feeling around Lexington for a while now is that Moreno is going to pick the Wildcats. He has set up official visits to Ohio State, North Carolina, Indiana, Arkansas, and Kentucky. Coach Pope and the Wildcats will get the final visits from Moreno on October 11th, which is usually a good sign.
A decision will likely come from Moreno at the end of October after he takes all of the visits he has planned, and the feeling is that he will pick Kentucky. Moreno is a great center that will likely be a composite five-star when everything is said and done in the 2025 class. Kentucky fans need to be on Moreno commitment watch in the month of October.