Malachi Moreno 'Ecstatic' About Syracuse Basketball Offer
Syracuse basketball extended a scholarship offer to 2025 Georgetown (KY) Great Crossing center Malachi Moreno on Wednesday. Moreno is listed at 6-11, 200 pound and is rated a four star prospect by all of the major recruiting services. He is also ranked as high as 26th by On3.
"It was a funny process," Moreno said. "They called me the day before. It was the first time I talked to them, coach Griff. He was just like, 'hey man. I wanted to reach out and see how much interest you had in Syracuse.' I told him I'm a big Carmelo Anthony fan. He's top five all-time for me. He was just like, 'we'll be in touch. I'll put the head coach on the phone with you tomorrow and we'll go from there.'
"He called my parents and my older brother and told them he was going to offer me a scholarship. He called me the next day and officially extended the scholarship offer. When I got that, I was ecstatic."
Outside of his affinity for Carmelo Anthony, there are other aspects of the Orange that makes Syracuse an attractive option.
"Just the history of Syracuse, where they play, where they're at in the state of New York," Moreno said. "I've always been a fan of Syracuse. I watched Syracuse a lot when I was little. It was just crazy to know that they even had me on their radar."
Moreno wants to come to Syracuse for a visit to get a closer look at the program and get to know the coaches on a more personal level. However, the start of his high school season is right around the corner and that may make it difficult to get something scheduled. More likely, he will come visit in the spring.
After the offer was extended, Moreno spoke with Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry.
"I talked to coach Red, the head coach, and he was saying how he's trying to switch Syracuse from a 2-3 zone to a man to man defense," Moreno said. "It starts with the 2025 class. He said I'm a key piece in that because I can defend, I can rebound, I can shoot the ball, I can score in a variety of ways, I can pass. I'm a real versatile player and that's the type of player they like to have on their team."
Moreno is not currently close to making a decision, but knows what he is looking for in a potential landing spot.
"How the coaching staff works," Moreno said. "The team comradery, the area of the school. Just how the coaching staff treats me as a player and as a person. Because I want to grow closer to God while I'm in college. I want to grow closer to my teammates and my coaches. Just feel like a family wherever I'm at."
Besides Syracuse, schools like Alabama, Arkansas, Creighton, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, LSU, Michigan, Missouri, NC State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, Providence, Purdue, Tennessee, USC, Virginia Tech and others have offered. Moreno says almost all of them are coming at him hard, with schools like Kentucky also showing interest.
Moreno averaged 14.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.5 blocks per game for Indiana Elite AAU this past AAU season.
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