When Mark Pope took over as the head men’s basketball coach for the University of Kentucky, many were concerned about his ability to recruit top-tier prospects.

Pope silenced many of those concerns recently by landing multiple top players from right here in the Commonwealth state.

Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno are both listed as 5-star prospects, according to 247 Sports Composite.

Even though both are considered to be huge gets for Pope, it’s been Johnson who has garnered most of the attention from fans and media.

However, reports from the USA Basketball minicamp show that Malachi Moreno is playing very well and making a name for himself on the national stage.

The Great Crossing High School product was listed as one of the top-performing underclassmen at the USA minicamp by 247 Sports.

Props to 247 Sports for this awesome graphic with Moreno in his fresh UK gear. The big man is looking good in blue and seems very happy with his decision to stay home.

At 7-feet tall, Moreno brings more of a traditional look from the center position. It’ll be interesting to see exactly how he fits into Mark Pope’s system next year when he arrives on campus.

In August, after committing to the Cats, Moreno had this to say about his choice to stay home and play for Coach Pope at Kentucky.

“I took a lot of pride in that. Knowing that he (Pope) develops his big man personally, not just having another coach do that, and he was a big man at Kentucky, so he knows what it takes.” Moreno said.

Hearing that Malachi Moreno is playing so well against top national competition adds to his intrigue as a prospect.

Getting top talent to commit is always nice, but when the player is from the state of Kentucky, I think we can all agree that it makes it that much more special.