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BREAKING: Top 2025 Center, Malachi Moreno Commits to Kentucky

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Top 2025 center Malachi Moreno has committed to play for Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats.
UK Athletics

There it is! Mark Pope has his first top 25 high school prospect, as Malachi Moreno has committed to Kentucky over Indiana, Ohio State, North Carolina, and others. The in-state product announced his decision at Great Crossing High School in Georgetown (KY) on Friday.

While Kentucky was Moreno’s dream school, they were not always in the lead in his recruitment. In fact, for a large part of the recruitment, Indiana was considered the leader.

However, Moreno, a top three center in the 2025 class and one of the highest-rated centers from Kentucky in years, quickly became a priority for Pope when he took the Kentucky head coaching job back in April. From that point, the current staff communicated with Moreno weekly and brought him in for multiple unofficial visits to campus and practice, ultimately leading to his commitment.

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If you recall from Pope’s introductory press conference, Pope spoke on continuing to recruit in-state talent. “These young men that grow up in Kentucky, they bring a spirit to the team that cannot be fabricated or replaced. And it helps us to win, and we will continue to recruit them,” he said.

He has followed through on that, bringing in two talented in-state freshmen this season, and now has another coming next season.

What was Moreno ultimately looking for in a school?

“I’m going to be looking for a place where I can grow my faith,” he told On3 this summer. “Grow as a player, grow as a person, and be in a family-type environment,” and he believes he has found that in Kentucky.

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With a 7-foot, 230-pound frame, Moreno is considered a true center. While he will need to become a more consistent shooter, he is versatile and has a good feel for the game. He runs the floor well and understands offensive spacing, scoring in transition and off cuts to the basket, and he also has the strength and footwork to score in the post. What Mark Pope loves about him most is his ability to facilitate the offense from the high post, using handoffs and finding teammates cutting to the basket. Defensively, he is a little flat-footed to defend on the perimeter, but again, will use his physicality in the post.

Moreno becomes Kentucky’s first commit of the 2025 class as the staff looks to build upon the class, with multiple targets making their decision this fall. One of those targets, Jasper Johnson will make his decision at the end of the month, with it coming down to Alabama and Kentucky. Another target, Braylon Mullins, one of the best shooters in the country, is an AAU teammate of Moreno’s.

Also published on A Sea of Blue.

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BB Recruiting

Kentucky Earns Commitment From European Big Andrija Jelavic

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ABA League j.t.d./Dragana Stjepanovic

Earlier today, Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats received the commitment from Andrija Jelavic, a 6-foot-11 big from Croatia.

As first reported by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, Jelavic is one of the most highly regarded European prospects that is taking his talent to the NCAA.

Soon to be 21 years old, Jelavic averaged 10.8 points per game on 60% shooting from the field to go along with 7.4 rebounds per game for Mega Superbet, the same club that NBA Champion and three-time MVP Nikola Jokic played for.

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As a shock to most, who were expecting Pope’s next commit to be a guard of some sorts, international players can now sign lucrative NIL deals. Kentucky, along with several of the elite colleges, are now in the European market. 

Jelavic, with shades of current European big men, can do just about everything on the court. He can shoot, dribble, pass, finish at the rim, etc. With a very relevant comparison, Jelavic plays almost perfectly in the replacement role of Andrew Carr. 

His commitment now makes him the fifth member of Pope’s additions this offseason, joining Kam Williams, Jaland Lowe, Mouhamed Dioubate and Jayden Quaintance. 

With a 7’2” wingspan, joining an already impressive Kentucky frontcourt, it’s safe to say for certain that this new team will not lack in that department. 

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Next year’s roster was loaded with talent already, but now with the addition of Jelavic, lots of questions are arising: Who will start? How many more players is Pope going to add? What will happen with the walk-ons? 

There’s plenty to think about for Pope and his staff before the season starts, but like he said back when he introduced himself to Big Blue Nation, “We’re here to win banners.” He’s going to make the moves he thinks will do just that for the Wildcats. 

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Four-Star Guard Acaden Lewis Suddenly Decommits from Kentucky

Amidst a recent wave of positive recruiting news for Kentucky, the surprising decommitment of Acaden Lewis is an unfortunate wrench.

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2025 four-star point guard prospect Acaden Lewis has decommited from Kentucky.
UK Athletics

In a shocking, late at night turn of events, four-star freshman Acaden Lewis has decommitted from Kentucky.

Lewis, a 6’3” point guard out of Washington, D.C. first committed to the blue and white in November of last year, following an in-person visit with Mark Pope in his hometown.

Since then, he’s made multiple appearances in Rupp Arena, been featured in photo shoots with his fellow incoming recruits, and spoken on multiple occasions about his excitement to join the team for the 2025-26’ season.

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To say this development is surprising would be a serious understatement.

Lewis released a statement following the announcement, “This was an incredibly difficult decision, but I have to do what’s best for my future,” he said. “Thank you to Coach Pope and the whole Kentucky staff for all they’ve done for me so far.”

While the loss of Lewis is certainly disappointing, there is still much to look forward to next season for Kentucky, who maintain one of the highest rated transfer classes in the nation – and it likely isn’t finished.

To that point, if any reason can be derived immediately for Lewis’ decommitment, it may be found in the same place that Mark Pope and staff will be going to look for answers: the transfer portal.

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Top 10 Transfer Prospect, Former Wildcat Recruit Jayden Quaintance Commits to Kentucky

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2024 five-star big man Jayden Quaintance has commmitted to play basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats
UK Athletics

Two days into the week and two booms for the Kentucky Wildcats as Jayden Quaintance announced his commitment to Kentucky on Tuesday morning.

If the Quaintance name sounds familiar, it should. He was originally committed to play for the Cats out of high school last season as a five-star recruit. While he was interested in staying at Kentucky following John Calipari’s departure, even meeting with Mark Pope, he elected to play for Arizona State.

In his one season with the Sun Devils, Quaintance averaged 9.4 PPG, 7.9 RPG, and 2.6 BPG, and earned Big 12 All-Freshman and All-Defensive honors.

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The one concern for Quaintance is that he had surgery to repair a torn ACL, which could keep him out for the entire offseason and potentially into the season. That said, the expectation for a return is September, and at just 17 years old, there is so much untapped potential.

Get to know the newest Wildcat commit!

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