EKU Coach Praises UK Freshman Malachi Moreno

Malachi Moreno is not the same player as his brother but is still a "coach's dream." (Vicky Graff Photo)

Malachi Moreno just wrapped up his first summer camp at Kentucky.

During the eight-week session that ended recently, Moreno drew the attention of Kentucky coach Mark Pope and his staff.

“Malachi Moreno is gonna be fun,” Pope said earlier this summer. “We’re gonna have a lot of fun with him. He’s so young and he’s so capable. We’re gonna see moments where it’s like he should be in the NBA right now, and we’re gonna see moments where we feel like, I’m not sure Malachi knows exactly what he’s doing. And we’re going to see both of those, and that’s what growth is.”

Moreno grew up playing in the shadows of his brother Michael Moreno, who enjoyed a successful collegiate career at Eastern Kentucky University. Michael Moreno finished as the only player in school history to score at least 1.400 points and collect 900 rebounds, sixth on the all-time scoring list with 1,631 points and first on 3-pointers made (334) and games played with 161.

Eastern Kentucky University coach A.W. Hamilton described the Moreno brothers as two different players because of their height, but both possess a high IQ on and off the court.

“They’re different,” he said. “They play totally different positions, but what they are is they’re a coach’s dream. They’re gonna show up and they’re gonna work their tails off every day.”

It was Michael Moreno’s IQ that sustained him from start to finish at EKU, Hamilton said of his former standout player.

“He was such a heady player all his life,” Hamilton said. “He wasn’t the most athletic or the fastest, but, you know, he was the smartest player on the court. He just knew where to be all the time, and Malachi has that type of resource with his big big brother, which is pretty special, not everybody has that — to look up to his big brother.”

Hamilton added that Moreno’s parents —  Sarah and Enelio Moreno — are ideal role models for their two sons and described the family as “unbelievable.”

“I love Sarah Marino — she’s a phenomenal human being (and) Emilio is awesome,” Hamilton said. “They’re great and they’ve always been a great support system for both kids. There were a great amount of times that me and Sarah would work behind the scenes to make sure Michael kept moving forward.

“I just her love, and you know what she does for those kids, she holds those kids accountable. Both of them have great discipline in their life.”

Hamilton sees Malachi as a four-year player at Kentucky and loyal to the program just as his older brother was at Eastern.

“Malachi Moreno will end up being one of the all-time greats at UK because of what he’s going to be — a guy that stays there for four years,” Hamilton said. “Just like Michael Moreno, he didn’t want to get in the transfer portal. He wanted to leave a legacy at Eastern Kentucky. Malachi will be the same way at UK.”