SerpApi.Org
The first question for Malachi Moreno once he settled into a seat for his summer press conference drove home what the past 12 months have been like for the budding Kentucky basketball star.
How different did the start of offseason practice feel now that Moreno would be counted upon to shoulder much more of the load than he had a year ago?
“Yeah, it’s definitely a little different,” the sophomore center replied. “It’s a new adjustment for me, but I like to accept the challenge. I think this is where it really builds your character, and I think it really pushes me to be my best self every day. So just being in this new position, it’s really propelled me in a lot of different ways.”
His presence should be felt more on the court in Year 2 at Kentucky, but Moreno accepted this new role long before the first practice of the summer. And the 19-year-old’s eagerness to embrace it ultimately played an integral part in UK’s roster-building efforts.
Mark Pope made it clear as soon as Kentucky’s 2025-26 season ended that bringing Moreno back to the program would be his No. 1 priority going into the spring. While Pope had to wait out the NBA draft process for confirmation of Moreno’s return to Lexington, the Kentucky native let his head coach know early on that if he didn’t go pro, he’d be a Wildcat once again.
And then Moreno got to work.
An exodus was inevitable after UK failed to live up to preseason expectations on the court, and it was apparent early in the offseason that several Cats would be leaving the team. That meant several open roster spots for the 2026-27 season, and Pope deputized Moreno to help him bring in new players.
It was a natural position for the affable 7-footer. He didn’t hesitate to dive into the process.
The first major objective for Pope was to find a new point guard in the transfer portal. The first candidate he brought to campus was Washington playmaker Zoom Diallo, who just so happened to be a friend of Moreno’s from their high school days.
Diallo and Moreno both competed on the Adidas circuit in the summer, and - though Diallo was a year older - the two ended up at multiple camps together, including a few weeks spent with each other as part of a contingent that represents the shoe company on an annual trip to Europe.
“We had been in Adidas Eurocamp together, and being on the Adidas circuit, we’d been good friends for a while,” Moreno said. “And we always wanted to play together. He ended up at Washington, I ended up here. But the stars aligned, and now he’s here with me. And I got my favorite point guard.”
While Pope and the staff ultimately delivered Diallo to Lexington, the relationship between the junior point guard and Moreno paid off during that recruitment. Moreno hadn’t yet left campus to take part in the NBA predraft process when Diallo came to town for his official visit, so the UK center was paired with Pope’s point guard target on that trip.
Diallo, who grew up in Tacoma and played two seasons at his home-state school, said he and Moreno remained in touch after their time spent together on the Adidas circuit, even though they were playing for different colleges. The familiarity made it easier to leave Washington.
“Most definitely, just knowing the talent that he had, a highly touted player coming out (of high school), very familiar with this area. Me having that history, and us being at Eurocamp and playing against each other, battling, knowing what he’s good at, he knows what I’m good at - it just made it very easy,” Diallo said.
He became Pope’s first portal commitment for the 2026 cycle. And as soon as Diallo picked the Cats, he went to work on Furman guard Alex Wilkins, another highly talented playmaker who committed to Kentucky in short order.
Moreno was involved in that recruitment, too, and Diallo and Wilkins are expected to play together in UK’s 2026-27 backcourt, giving Pope a couple of creators to work with after the past two seasons that have been marred by issues at the point guard spot.
Diallo acknowledged that the tables were briefly turned after he committed to the Cats, with Moreno’s NBA stock seemingly on the rise, leading to a real possibility that he would keep his name in the draft as a potential first-round pick.
“It was patience. It was a lot of patience,” Diallo said. “But it was also me recruiting. When Malachi was going through his whole thing, I was talking to him.”
Diallo also took over some of the secondary recruiting duties himself as Moreno pivoted to draft mode. He helped bring Wilkins, a young guard with NBA potential, to the program. One of his former teammates, Franck Kepnang, also joined the team as a transfer from Washington.
And when Moreno announced that he was coming back to Kentucky after all, there was a collective sigh of relief for Diallo, Pope and everyone else back in Lexington.
Then the Georgetown native returned to work on one more recruitment.
Moreno and Milan Momcilovic, the top 3-point shooter in college basketball, apparently didn’t talk much during their time together at the NBA Combine in Chicago this spring. They were in a similar spot. Each was on the fence regarding the draft, in the conversation as first-rounders but without the guarantee of being picked that highly.
Both also knew that a lucrative NIL payday would be waiting for them back on the NCAA level. Moreno had already decided he was coming back to Kentucky if he pulled out of the draft. Momcilovic knew he would be moving on from Iowa State, where he spent his first three years of college, but his destination was undetermined, though UK was clearly a candidate.
“I didn’t really know what I was going to do, and I don’t think (Moreno) knew what he was going to do either,” Momcilovic said. “So we never really talked at all. But then the last Zoom call we had, he hopped on, he kind of gave his expertise on what he liked at Kentucky.”
After that video conference with the UK contingent ended, Momcilovic got another call. It was Moreno, who wanted to reach out personally to see if the star transfer had any other questions about Kentucky that didn’t get covered in the group session.
“And we just talked a little bit,” Momcilovic said. “I asked him some questions on what he sees, and how I can help. So, I think that was helpful.”
Moreno, who was not projected as a possible one-and-done player this time last year, told Momcilovic how he felt like he developed over the course of his first season at Kentucky. They discussed the immense expectations that come with being a UK basketball player. Momcilovic implied that Moreno told him not to judge the entire fan base on what he might’ve seen from some disgruntled folks on social media.
And the fact that Moreno had made it clear so early in the process that he was definitely coming back to Kentucky, if he didn’t go pro, was telling, too.
“Obviously, Malachi was big, him coming back,” Momcilovic said. “I feel like playing with a passing big man is really important. It just opens the game up for everyone.”
Momcilovic saw playing alongside Moreno as a path to opening up his own game even more. He committed to the Cats, who moved to No. 3 nationally in the 247Sports transfer rankings and safely inside the preseason Top 25 lists with that pledge.
With summer practice nearing its end, those around the team have talked about Moreno and the two transfers he helped bring to campus as the pillars of the program for next season.
Diallo will be the vocal leader at arguably the most important position on the floor. Momcilovic will be a preseason All-America candidate, potentially a perfect fit for Pope’s system. And Moreno, though only a sophomore, should be one of the team’s leaders, as well as one of UK’s key performers on the court.
His presence on and off the floor is already paying off for the team’s top newcomers.
“He’s very talented. But having the familiarity with Malachi has made the process for me very easy,” Diallo said when asked about Moreno’s comment that he was his “favorite” point guard. “For him to say that, you know, it makes me very comfortable, and knowing that he has trust in me and I have trust in him, too.
“Especially with him already knowing the offense, I have to sit back and learn a little bit, because he’s been here and he knows what Pope wants and what Pope needs.”
Other teammates have been approaching Moreno to ask for pointers, too.
“It means a lot,” Moreno said. “It just shows that they got a lot of trust in me, and they’re just trying to learn as quickly as they can. Because you know we all want to play. So I’m always here to help.”
A year ago, Moreno was just a freshman. His attempts at leading then would draw funny looks from his more experienced teammates. Now, he’s still a teenager but talks like a grizzled vet.
Diallo, who knew him long before he was a Wildcat, is surprised by neither Moreno’s growth as a player nor his emergence as a vocal leader.
“I mean, to be honest, I would say I expected it,” Diallo said. “Because he made the decision to come to Kentucky, and the expectation here and being at Kentucky, it forces you to grow your game and be a better player. And, again, he was a young high school kid. Now he’s an older, mature man at this point. And Coach Pope has done a great job being on him and sees the potential and where he can be, and how he’s growing.
“So, I would most definitely say, yeah, he’s grown. His IQ for the game, I feel like, is next level for his size and at his age. He knows the game. And I feel like that’s just going to help us. Like I said, having a leader like me and him - but having him, who’s already been in the program and kind of understands what Pope knows - I feel like it’s just going to make us better, for sure.”
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