‘I’m gonna make sure I puts this (Kentucky shirt) on.’ Malachi Moreno making his commitment….

I choose Kentucky Malachi Moreno is ‘coming to hang banners’

Kendrick Gilbert was a nice recruiting win for Kentucky in the 2023 high school cycle. The Indianapolis (Ind.) Cathedral prospect visited Iowa and Notre Dame before ultimately flipping from Purdue to Kentucky during the late signing period. Expectations were high for the talented defensive lineman.

In his first season on campus, Gilbert did not make much noise and then suffered a shoulder injury. During that rehab process, the former four-star recruit lost a bunch of weight and slipped to 258 pounds on the spring roster. But some injuries in the room created opportunity.

The loss of Josaih Hayes and Tavion Gadson opened up an opportunity at nose tackle. Kendrick Gilbert has added 12 pounds and is now getting reps at nose tackle behind Keeshawn Silver as the Wildcats look to steal some snaps from a second-year player who was playing 3-4 defensive end before the injury situation arrived.

With Josaih Hayes being out and Tavion Gadson, which are two really good nose guards for us, I have to come in and be able to fill that position. It’s been hard from playing field end and moving to inside,” Gilbert told the media on Tuesday. “Kind of getting that strength back and putting weight on, I’ve been getting better each day and I’ve just been trying to stack those days.”

Throughout the offseason, Kendrick Gilbert has been working with Kentucky’s strength and conditioning staff to put on weight and add strength to that shoulder in the rehab process. Corey Edmond and Mark Hill have been working have helped the redshirt freshman get to fall camp in a position to contribute.

Malachi MorenoLexington wasted little time recruiting possible future teammates to Lexington. Before he could even finish up his decision ceremony — where he chose Kentucky over the likes of Indiana, Ohio State, Louisville, and more — the in-state star made a quick pitch to five-star guard Jasper Johnson.

“You know where home is, Jasper,” Moreno said to close out his announcement.

But Johnson isn’t the only relevant Kentucky target Moreno is looking to bring with him to college. He’s also recruiting his longtime AAU teammate, four-star guard   Mullins, who has the Wildcats among his group of finalists with an official visit to campus set for late October. Moreno says the two have already discussed playing together at the next level too.

“We did have that in mind,” Moreno, who was still rocking a Kentucky shirt that he revealed during his announcement, told KSR’s Jack Pilgrim shortly after committing to UK. “I knew he was going to be great after — I mean he blew up the last three summers, I just knew he was going to be great. Once we had similar offers I was like ‘Yo, we actually have an opportunity to be college teammates…’ I’m gonna make sure he puts this (Kentucky shirt) on.”