Are they about to land their first major high school recruit?
On Monday, 247 Sports recruiting expert Travis Branham logged a prediction in favor of the Kentucky Wildcats to land 4-star center Malachi Moreno. If that comes to pass, it would be the first signature high school recruiting win for Pope as Kentucky’s head coach. It would also be the highest-ranked commitment Pope has ever received in his coaching career, which began in 2009 as an assistant at Georgia.
Of course, Pope has never recruited with the brand and resources that Kentucky Basketball has until now, so he’s still an unknown in terms of how much success he can have recruiting elite high school recruits while coaching an elite program.
Reed Sheppard gives recruiting pitch to Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno
The fact that the 7-foot Moreno is one of the highest-ranked prospects the state of Kentucky has produced in recent memory adds more importance to the recruitment. The Great Crossing product is currently ranked No. 21 overall and No. 2 among centers in On3’s latest class of 2025 rankings.
Moreno is tentatively set to take an official visit to Kentucky on the weekend of October 11th, which is likely when Big Blue Madness will be. He’s also scheduled to visit Ohio State, North Carolina, Indiana, and Arkansas before then. For now, the October 11th trip will be his final official visit.
One player in the 2025 class that Mark Pope can’t miss on is five-star power forward Niko Bundalo. Kentucky is new to this recruitment as Coach Pope hasn’t been in Lexington long, so the Wildcats are playing from behind, but Bundalo was made in a lab for this system.
The 6’11 215-pound power forward is also a lights-out shooter, which is what makes him so exciting for Kentucky’s new offensive system. While the shooting is the most exciting part of his game for the system, Bundalo can also play down low and pass the basketball
Bundalo recently reduced the list of schools he is considering to eight, which included Kentucky, UConn, North Carolina, Ohio State, Michigan State, Pitt, Texas, and Xavier. He is in the process of setting up visits currently, and he is planning for the final visit he takes to be to Lexington.
If this ends up being the case, it is a very good thing for the Kentucky Wildcats because that would mean the final school he sees before making a decision would be Kentucky.
It shouldn’t be hard for Coach Pope to sell Bundalo his vision when the power forward is on campus, as, once again, he was made for this system. If Coach Pope explains to Bundalo how he would use him and shows him how this could lead to the NBA, it will be hard for him to say no.
One player in the 2025 class that Mark Pope can’t miss on is five-star power forward Niko Bundalo. Kentucky is new to this recruitment as Coach Pope hasn’t been in Lexington long, so the Wildcats are playing from behind, but Bundalo was made in a lab for this system.
The 6’11 215-pound power forward is also a lights-out shooter, which is what makes him so exciting for Kentucky’s new offensive system. While the shooting is the most exciting part of his game for the system, Bundalo can also play down low and pass the basketball
Bundalo recently reduced the list of schools he is considering to eight, which included Kentucky, UConn, North Carolina, Ohio State, Michigan State, Pitt, Texas, and Xavier. He is in the process of setting up visits currently, and he is planning for the final visit he takes to be to Lexington.
If this ends up being the case, it is a very good thing for the Kentucky Wildcats because that would mean the final
It shouldn’t be hard for Coach Pope to sell Bundalo his vision when the power forward is on campus, as, once again, he was made for this system. If Coach Pope explains to Bundalo how he would use him and shows him how this could lead to the NBA, it will be hard for him to say no.