Malachi Moreno had an intriguing transformation this summer after early struggles

Out of everyone on the roster, there is one guy who is going to be a clear leader of the team this season and that man is Malachi Moreno, who widely exceeded expectations in his freshman year and climbed NBA Draft boards. He's now back for another year and looking to make some serious noise, all while hoping to lead his Wildcats to a ninth title.

But it wasn't as easy of a summer for Moreno as you might think. In fact, Pope went in-depth on the Kentucky native's growth throughout the summer when he spoke with media on Monday. There were some lows early in the summer, but what Moreno has done since then has the UK head coach excited, especially with how he has worked on expanding his game.

"Malachi Moreno -- we had a scrimmage on on Saturday -- he had three assists in the first four minutes. The jump he's made has been has been really exciting for us to see. ...Malachi's made huge strides," Pope said. "I'll be really honest with this, and Malachi knows this -- the first four weeks of the summer, I was really frustrated with Malachi. I felt like we were stuck in molasses. There was a little bit of stubbornness, and we were kind of fighting, but that happens over the course of a tenure when you're pushing, pushing, pushing. Then, what he's done since then is almost unrecognizable with some of the skill sets that he's brought to the game. His interior scoring has improved dramatically. His use of quicks has improved dramatically. His rim protection is a place we're really pushing him to be really aggressive. Our two-point at-rim field-goal percentage is a hugely important number for us, and he's had a huge impact there. He's taken on a leadership role where our guys see him as a leader and a veteran on this team."

What led to the turnaround for Moreno this summer? The big man says he talked with his brother and Pope, which made something click. "I had a talk with him and my brother, and my brother said a couple things to me that really stuck out, and it kind of stuck with me since. That was kind of a big key factor for me, and it was like I got to turn this motor up."

Last season, Moreno turned himself into a role player who expects to get a handful of minutes behind Jayden Quaintance to a breakout starter who stepped up when his team needed him most. He reaped some of the benefits of that this offseason when he weighed his NBA Draft stay-go decision. Now, he can really build on that and turn himself into a lottery pick that, potentially, led his team deep into the NCAA Tournament, maybe even a national title.

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