Malachi Moreno, a senior at Great Crossing in Georgetown and four-star recruit, became Kentucky coach Mark Pope’s first in-state commit on Friday when he chose to play for the Wildcats.

Moreno, one of the top 25 recruits of the Class of 2025, picked Kentucky over Louisville, Notre Dame, Indiana, Iowa, North Carolina, Arkansas and Ohio State. He made his announcement at Great Crossing High School.

“It’s been a dream school of mine since I was a little fella,” Moreno told 247 Sports. “Just the coaching staff, the play style and the pace of Kentucky, it felt right. I felt that God was leading me in that way.”

A year ago, Moreno led Great Crossing to the 11th Region title and the semifinals of the Sweet 16. He averaged 16 points, 13.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.

Although Kentucky has always been high on his list, Moreno said Pope’s honesty and approach made his decision easier. His high school coach, Steve Page, agreed.

“I think Coach Pope just seems so darn genuine,” Page told 247 Sports. “I said to him, we went to Rupp, the floor wasn’t down that day, but I just mentioned how it was crazy how many people showed up to his press conference and he’s like, they didn’t show up for me, they just showed up for Kentucky basketball.

“He just seems genuine in everything he does. Such a genuine family-first individual and that’s probably number one. Basketball is obviously up there, but number one on Malachi’s list was that family-first atmosphere.”

When Pope was hired, he immediately started pursuing Moreno.

“He called me the first day he got it and I had to earn the scholarship twice. I got it from Coach Cal back in October, and then I had to re-earn it from coach Pope,” Moreno said. “That was sort of a message he gave me.  He wasn’t just going to give it to me. I had to earn it.”

Malachi Moreno’s brother, Michael Moreno, was A.W. Hamilton’s first top in-state signees at Eastern Kentucky University five years ago.

Moreno was a breakthrough recruit for Hamilton and finished his collegiate career as the only player in school history to score at least 1,500 points and collect at last 900 rebounds in his stellar career with the Colonels.

“It’s probably the biggest recruit in the last decade at Eastern Kentucky,” Hamilton said. “You know we needed to get the best players in our state in Michael Moreno. When our program was struggling it was gigantic for our program. It was gigantic for us. He had a historic Hall of Fame type of career.”