Top center has the Ohio State basketball team in his final eight

The Ohio State basketball program is in a new era. It's now the Jake Diebler era and he is trying to put his stamp on the program. We saw that he was able to get the team to respond to him on the court. The run at the end of last season almost got them into the NCAA Tournament.

Diebler's next challenge is to bring his kind of guys into the program. He has to be as good on the recruiting trail as well. He was able to get a big-time recruit for the 2026 class. Now, he's trying to land one for the 2025 recruiting class as well. The number two center in the country is interested in them too.

Malachi Moreno is a four-star recruit from the state of Kentucky. He's rated as the second-best recruit at center in the country. He's 6'11 and 230 pounds and plays with a real force. The Buckeyes would be very happy if they were able to land him somehow.

The Ohio State basketball program is one of eight schools that Moreno has narrowed his list to. Arkansas, Notre Dame, Kentucky, Iowa, Indiana, North Carolina, and Louisville are the other schools. That's a pretty well-respected list of schools in college basketball.

There is still a lot of time before Moreno has to make his decision. There will be a lot of chances for the other schools to come in with a big NIL offer to try and entice him. Ohio State's NIL offer will surely be attractive as well, but that shouldn't be the only reason to choose a school.

If Diebler can land Moreno, it would be a fantastic start to his era as the head coach of the Buckeyes. He is going to try very hard to bring the best players in the country to Columbus and bring this program back to prominence.