{"id":703341,"date":"2026-04-07T13:32:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T13:32:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/703341\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T13:32:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T13:32:19","slug":"malachi-moreno-signs-return-deal-with-kentucky-will-test-draft-waters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/703341\/","title":{"rendered":"Malachi Moreno signs return deal with Kentucky, will test draft waters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kentucky<\/a> is expected to have its center of the future back for year two in Lexington, as Malachi Moreno<\/a> is planning to return for his sophomore campaign while also testing the draft waters, sources tell KSR. The 7-0, 250-pound big man out of Georgetown put pen to paper on a deal that will keep him home as the Wildcats\u2019 frontcourt anchor in 2026-27.<\/p>\n

He confirmed himself on Monday that if he returns to college, there is no other jersey he\u2019d rather wear than the one he\u2019s wearing now.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter a lot of prayer, and after sitting down with my family and the people I trust most, I\u2019ve decided to take the next step in chasing my dream. I will be entering the 2026 NBA Draft while maintaining my college eligibility,\u201d he announced. \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to learning through this process, competing, and continuing to develop my game as I evaluate what\u2019s best for my future.<\/p>\n

\u201cRepresenting this state and wearing Kentucky across my chest is something I\u2019ve never taken for granted. If I\u2019m back in college next season, it\u2019ll be right here with Big Blue Nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moreno was an All-SEC Freshman Team selection in year one, appearing in all 36 games with 30 starts, finishing with season averages of 7.8 points and a team-high 6.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per contest. He registered a team-best three double-doubles with 11 double-figure scoring efforts and four games with double figures on the glass, leading the Wildcats in rebounding on 18 separate occasions and blocks 17 different times.<\/p>\n

No moment was bigger for the hometown hero than his game-winning buzzer-beater at LSU to complete an 18-point second-half comeback for Kentucky. <\/p>\n

A former McDonald\u2019s All-American out of high school as a consensus top-25 prospect, he originally committed to Kentucky over\u00a0Arkansas<\/a>,\u00a0Indiana<\/a>,\u00a0Iowa<\/a>,\u00a0Louisville<\/a>,\u00a0North Carolina<\/a>,\u00a0Notre Dame<\/a> and\u00a0Ohio State<\/a> as the No. 1 center in the country and Mark Pope\u2019s first pledge in the class of 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to the Big Blue and I\u2019m going there because I felt like it was the right fit for me,\u201d he told KSR at the time. \u201cThere is no better place than home.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a successful debut season that saw him exceed initial expectations and earn a permanent starting role as a focal point of the offense, Moreno has decided to run it back as a sophomore, projected to be one of the best bigs in the SEC with All-America upside \u2014 barring any unexpected developments during the draft process.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery game, he\u2019s getting better, better, more confident, more comfortable in the role that he has to play for this team, which is a big one,\u201d\u00a0Otega Oweh said of Moreno in March.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s barely scratching the surface, but the surface is pretty good,\u201d Pope added.<\/a><\/p>\n

The 7-0 rookie did it all as a teenager, learning a new system and adjusting to SEC physicality for the first time. With a year under his belt and plenty of production to show for it as is, Moreno was a top priority for Pope going into the offseason \u2014 other schools armed with lucrative deals to steal him away in the transfer portal if it got to that point. <\/p>\n

Fortunately for all of us, that\u2019s no longer a concern for the Wildcats. The local standout who bleeds blue through and through isn\u2019t going anywhere.<\/p>\n

Welcome back, No. 24.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kentucky is expected to have its center of the future back for year two in Lexington, as Malachi…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":703342,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3724],"tags":[7,4000,7388],"class_list":{"0":"post-703341","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-kentucky-basketball","10":"tag-malachi-moreno-25-great-crossing"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116363679719908874","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=703341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/703342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=703341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=703341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=703341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}