KSR Today: Malachi Moreno and Preseason All-Americans

Good morning, folks! It’s me again — your friendly neighborhood blogger. Did you get off all of your unpopular opinions during yesterday’s radio show? I sure did enjoy listening to all of them. I respect the confidence to share them with the Big Blue Nation, even if you knew they might not be well-received. I was actually a bit shocked by how many of them I actually agreed with (not the Dan Issel part, though).

We’re back to our regularly scheduled programming today though. The radio crew will settle into KSBar and Grille for what will be a “normal” episode as we inch closer to the weekend. As for the website, we’ve got plenty to talk about today. Kentucky football coaches and players will meet with the media today ahead of another scrimmage set for this weekend. KSR will be there, so stay tuned for updates on everything they have to say.

Now, let’s dive into this morning’s news and notes.

Malachi Moreno commitment incoming

And the Kentucky Wildcats are in good shape to land him. Moreno, the top-ranked center from the 2025 recruiting class, is set to announce his decision on Friday morning at 11:00 a.m. EST live from Great Crossing High School. As always, KSR will have plenty of boots on the ground to bring you immediate coverage.

Moreno is technically down to a group of eight finalists: Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisville, North Carolina, Notre Dame, and Ohio State. Some of those schools are scheduled to receive official visits from the 7-footer, including one to UK the weekend of Big Blue Madness in mid-October. But as we head down the final stretch, this has been a two-horse race between the Wildcats and Hoosiers.

There might not be much suspense with this one though. As of Thursday morning, there have been seven picks logged across On3, 247Sports, and Rivals in favor of Moreno (ranked No. 25 overall in the country) choosing Kentucky. Mark Pope is on the verge of landing his first major high school recruit as head coach of the Wildcats.

Even more recruiting updates w/ “Here Comes the Boom”

If the Moreno news has you excited about what else Pope has in store on the recruiting trail, might I point you in the direction of KSR’s newest podcast, Here Comes the Boom, featuring Jacob Polacheck of KSR+?

Joined by On3’s Jamie Shaw and Joe Tipton, Polacheck uses the latest episode to touch on Moreno’s recruitment and where things stand with the ‘Cats. He also discusses other Kentucky targets such as Chris Cenac , Mikel Brown Jr. , and Nate Ament . You’ll be a smarter fan after watching.

Subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel for press conferences, interviews, original shows, fan features, and exclusive content.

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Kentucky Sports Radio has teamed up with Louisville City and Racing Louisville to provide you discounted tickets in 2024! Both clubs play at beautiful Lynn Family Stadium, the perfect place to spend an evening while the Cats aren’t in action.

LouCity is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, while Racing is the city’s only top-tier pro sports team newly featuring UK Hall of Famer Arin (Gilliand) Wright. Take advantage of those special discounted tickets for KSR fans.

More preseason love for Deone and Barion

Kentucky football stars Deone Walker and Barion Brown continue to rack up the preseason All-American honors. ESPN and The Athletic both tabbed Walker to its Preseason First-Team as a defensive tackle while Brown was named a Preseason Second-Team member by The Athletic as an all-purpose player.

Walker has already been tabbed a Preseason All-American by USA TODAY and Sporting News while making Preseason All-SEC by the media. He’s on multiple award Watch Lists, as well, including the Chuck Bednarik Award for college football’s best defensive player. Meanwhile, Brown was also named a Preseason All-American by USA TODAY, Sporting News, and 247Sports. He’s also on multiple award Watch Lists and is a Preseason All-SEC First-Teamer.

Tounde Yessoufou visiting for BBM

Moreno won’t be alone on his official visit trip to Kentucky in a couple of months. He’ll be joined at Big Blue Madness by another highly-ranked prospect. 6-foot-5 shooting guard Tounde Yessoufou has locked in his OV to Kentucky for the same weekend, which also includes a home football game against Vanderbilt (and Keeneland, if the coaches elect to give them the full tour of Lexington).

Yessoufou has noted that the Kentucky staff asked for them to be his final official visit. Back in July, he trimmed his list down to a top 10: Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Kansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, UCLA, UConn, Southern California, and Washington. He already officially visited Arizona and Southern California in June with future OVs scheduled for Baylor (Aug. 31) and Tennessee (Sept. 14).

According to the On3 Industry Ranking, Yessoufouf is the No. 19 overall prospect in the 2025 class. He’s really good.

Kentucky practiced under the lights

The brand new lights, I should add. Kroger Field underwent a $7 million renovation this offseason that went toward LED lighting and adding new ribbon boards that run around the middle row of the stadium. Mark Stoops took his team to their home turf on Tuesday night for a practice to get a better idea of what it will feel like once the regular season begins in a little over two weeks.

We’re just 16 days away from the season-opener against Southern Miss. Kentucky has another scrimmage set for Saturday. Football is almost here…

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