Big Blue Nation was ecstatic when Malachi Moreno announced his withdrawal from the NBA Draft and his subsequent decision to come back to Kentucky Basketball for his sophomore season.
It was a big decision, giving Kentucky a formidable player in their frontcourt and a player Mark Pope thinks could be among the best centers in the country.
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“One day we got some of the feedback, and we were like it might be in our best favor to go back and really improve this next year and become, like Pope said, the best center in America,” Moreno recently said when discussing the NBA Draft process.
“Become the best All-American center in the country. I think next year is my year.”
Moreno added that it was a difficult decision. Fans may not realize how happy they are that Moreno is coming back. But this is a player who aspires to be a professional basketball player and may have thought he had a realistic chance at making that dream a reality this year.
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That’s not to say he’s not happy to be at Kentucky, but rather that he still has dreams of playing in the NBA.
A member of the SEC’s All-Freshman Team in 2025-26, Moreno averaged 7.8 points and 6.3 rebounds in his Freshman season. Moreno shot 58.2% from the floor and 69.8% from the free-throw line.
Moreno’s most memorable moment was his buzzer-beater against LSU in mid-January that likely saved the Wildcats’ season early on in SEC play.
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