Mark Pope’s offseason already brought Kentucky one major win, and it came with Malachi Moreno choosing to come back instead of staying in the NBA Draft.
For a while, that decision looked far from automatic. Once Moreno entered the draft, Kentucky fans had reason to sweat when his name started popping up in the first round of a few mock drafts. In the end, though, the seven-footer pulled out and headed back to Lexington for another season.
That return matters because Moreno’s freshman year gave Kentucky a real glimpse of what he can be. He wasn’t expected to carry much of a load last season, but Brandon Garrison’s early struggles and the injury situation with Jayden Quaintance pushed Moreno into the five spot. He responded with 7.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game as a true freshman.
There’s still work to do, no question. But the excitement around Moreno is easy to understand, especially with another year in Pope’s system ahead of him. If he brings better physicality in the paint, he has the tools to be a problem down low for the Wildcats.
Dick Vitale clearly sees that upside too. In an ESPN piece highlighting breakout candidates across college basketball, Vitale included Moreno among the players he believes are ready to take off. That kind of praise carries weight, and it lines up with the buzz already building in Lexington.
The passing is a huge part of the appeal. Big men with Moreno’s size usually aren’t asked to run offense the way he can, let alone do it with real feel as a passer. That combination is what makes him such a unique piece for Kentucky.
The projection here is a big leap: 12 points, nine rebounds, 3.5 assists and two blocks per game. If Moreno lands anywhere near that kind of production, he’d put himself on the radar as a first-round pick in the 2027 NBA Draft.
For Kentucky, that next step from Moreno could go a long way toward shaping the season. The Wildcats believe he’s ready for it, and Moreno knows exactly what needs to happen if he wants to establish himself as one of the SEC’s top bigs.
In Other News...
Kentucky Gets Its First Real Chance To Back Up The Hype
Will Steins first game as Kentuckys head coach went about as well as the Wildcats could have hoped, with a season-opening win over Youngstown State giving the new staff a clean starting point. It also offered an early look at a roster that has talked plenty about its belief in the group, and the opener did enough to keep that optimism intact as Kentucky moved on to Alabama week.
Now comes the part that will tell the bigger story. Kentucky heads into this matchup as the underdog, facing a Crimson Tide team that brings a different level of talent and depth, and the Wildcats will have to translate the confidence they showed in Week 1 into something sturdier against a far sterner test. The opener featured encouraging performances from key players, but Alabama is the kind of opponent that quickly reveals whether the hype is real or just September noise. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky Volleyball Just Made A National Statement On A Huge Stage
Kentucky volleyball did something few college teams ever get the chance to do, beating Penn State in four sets at Wrigley Field in front of a crowd of 43,067. The setting alone made it a marquee event, and the result turned it into more than a showcase, with Kentucky leaving Chicago with a victory on one of the sports biggest stages and a reminder that its rise now travels well beyond the usual gym walls.
The timing only sharpened the moment for Kentucky fans, with opening weekend across the SEC delivering the kind of conference-wide backdrop that makes every result feel bigger. While football headlines around the league centered on unbeaten starts and a slate of tight games, Kentucky was making its own statement in a different sport, and the Wildcats are still settling into a new weekly rhythm on the football side after moving press conferences and coach shows to different days. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Heads Into Kentucky With One Big Problem Fans Will Notice
Kentuckys Week 2 meeting with Alabama comes with a strange kind of uncertainty for both staffs, the sort that only shows up this early in the season. Kalen DeBoer spent part of his press conference Wednesday talking through the usual mix of player evaluation, preparation and the challenges of jumping into an SEC game this quickly, while also acknowledging that the Crimson Tide are still trying to get a clear read on what Kentucky looks like under new head coach Will Stein.
The catch for Alabama is that the film bank is thin, and what is available does not offer much of a clean blueprint. DeBoer said the Tide are leaning heavily on fundamentals as they get ready for an early conference test, which makes this more of a game-plan-for-the-basics week than a deep-dive into tendencies. The matchup is set for ABC and Disney+, and for Kentucky, that kind of uncertainty can be a useful place to be when a heavyweight comes to town. [Read more 🡒]