North Carolina is among the programs that is after four-star center Malachi Moreno in the 2025 recruiting class. The Kentucky native is becoming a priority for Hubert Davis and his staff after they offered him weeks ago.
But North Carolina will have to battle out some top programs to land him, including the in-state Wildcats.
Kentucky is a legit contender in the recruitment for Moreno and might be the team to beat early on despite making a coaching change losing John Calipari and hiring Mark Pope. One recruiting analyst believes that Kentucky ‘must land’ Moreno in the recruiting process as well.
Here is what Rivals.com’s Rob Cassidy had to say when asked which uncommitted prospect is a ‘must land’ for a program:
At this point, it feels as though Kentucky needs to land Malachi Moreno, not so much because it absolutely needs him for roster construction purposes (he would certainly help), but because of what landing an in-demand, in-state star would say about the Mark Pope era. Part of hiring a beloved figure with strong ties to the state and the program is scoring points locally, so Pope landing Moreno feels like a good way to further ignite a fan base that is already operating with a heavy dose of cautious optimism. Losing Moreno to Indiana, Tennessee, Michigan or – God forbid – Arkansas would have the sting, especially if on-court growing pains strike in year one of Pope’s UK tenure.
Now, there is no mention of North Carolina in that answer as Cassidy points to Arkansas, Indiana, Tennessee, and Michigan as the programs that Kentucky could lose him to. The Tar Heels do need to land a center for future classes and the 6-foot-11 Moreno is a perfect fit for Davis.
It will be interesting to see how involved UNC gets with Moreno moving forward.
Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.