This is the first in a series of features showing the impact your philanthropic gifts have on EKU student-athletes! Eastern Kentucky University's Giving Day 2021 will take place on Wednesday, April 14. This 24-hour online challenge is designed to increase giving participation among the entire EKU community. Also known as #GiveBigE, the event's goal is to receive support from 1,000 donors in 24 hours. Please consider a gift to the Colonel Club or sports program of your choice on EKU Giving Day.
Family and basketball have been the two most important things in Michael Moreno's life for as long as he can remember.
When it was time for the well-sought-after recruit to make his college decision, the 6-foot-7 forward from Georgetown chose to remain close to home. A three-time first-team all-state selection and a 2019 Kentucky Mr. Basketball finalist, Moreno recently completed his sophomore season for the Eastern Kentucky University men's basketball team.
His prep career at Scott County High School was a record setting one, as he broke the school's 40-year rebounding record and finished with 1,317 boards. He also scored 2,383 career points, helped his team to the KHSAA state title game in back-to-back seasons and earned a perfect 4.0 grade point average.
Moreno's appreciation for the fervor with which basketball – the game he began playing at the age of four - is regarded in the Bluegrass State has only increased since wearing the maroon and white.
"Playing in Kentucky in high school, you kind of live and breathe it," Moreno said. "It's not something that's a side hobby, it's part of who everybody is. It's really important. To carry that tradition into college and be surrounded by people who understand the importance of what it means to play basketball in the state of Kentucky, it's just not an opportunity that a lot of people have."
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Having the opportunity to be mentored by someone who shares the same set of life experiences is incredibly rare.
But that was the exact circumstance under which Moreno came to Richmond. EKU head coach A.W. Hamilton also hails from Georgetown and was a star player on Scott County's first state championship team in 1998. Hamilton's also a member of the school's Athletics Hall of Fame.
"He was kind of the standard that came before me," Moreno said. "So it was really important for me to live up to those standards as a kid and meet the expectations of others around me. It's hard to find someone to play for who completely understands where you came from and there's really no better example than somebody who grew up 10 minutes down the road from you. That's just something I found really fascinating and has only helped strengthen our relationship as player-coach today."
In Hamilton's system, Moreno found an environment that challenges him to grow and improve on a daily basis. The attention to detail in all aspects of the game has made him a better player.
"It's made me have a whole new outlook on myself as a player," Moreno said. "The style that coach wants us to play requires top-notch conditioning. You have to play hard, you have to be able to play well on defense and it's got to be a cohesive thing. He really likes to make it positionless. He likes it to where we have three to four guards who can bring it down the floor and run the offense. The positions that you're going to play are interchangeable. As far as defense, it's the same way."
The results are already paying off in a big way. In 62 career games over the past two seasons, Moreno has started 50. In 26.2 minutes per game in his EKU career, he is averaging 9.4 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per game. In the summer of 2020, Moreno was named the Male Newcomer of the Year at the Colonels Choice Awards.
"To play in his system, it takes a rigorous amount of conditioning," Moreno said. "It's not the fun part of playing basketball but it's what you signed up for. There were times this year when we played and there would be five or six minutes left in the game and the other team was absolutely winded and we're just hitting our stride. It paid off. I hated it in the moment, but it was absolutely delayed gratitude."
Moreno's growth while at Eastern Kentucky, coupled with the knowledge he has garnered from Hamilton, has put him in a position to potentially continue his basketball career once his days playing for the Colonels have come to an end.
"I feel like this is kind of setting me up as far as having another opportunity down the road to play professional basketball," he said. "I'll be able to fit into any system."
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Regardless of the success he has in basketball, family is the central aspect in Moreno's life.
His parents, Sarah and Enelio, have provided the foundation for who is he has become. He takes seriously the responsibility of being a role model to his younger brother, Malachi.
"Proximity to home was something that became of large value to me later on in my recruitment," Moreno said. "I thought what I wanted was to go away and have that college experience, but I decided it was more important to watch my brother grow up and be here with my mom and dad."
Attending school at Eastern Kentucky has meant that Moreno is only a quick trip up I-75 from the home he grew up in. It also means his family can easily attend his games at McBrayer Arena.
"EKU kind of gave me that family feel away from home," he said. "I'm just far enough – about 45 minutes away – where I can be distanced but I can always go home and make a day trip out of it if I want to."
Moreno also wants to set the example for his brother as a person.
"Seeing my little brother grow up has kind of changed me a bit just because I'm trying to put everything that I have into him," he said. "As a man, as a student, as a person and even as an athlete, I would like him to be able to say, 'I did it better than my brother did. I learned from his mistakes and I was able to avoid them on my way.' I'm hoping he has that opportunity one day."
Moreno, who credits his mother for establishing much of what he values today, knows there are always going to be highs and lows. But he finds reassurance in knowing that his family will always be a constant for him.
"No matter what happens, you're always going to have your family in your corner," he said. "They're going to be there to knock some sense into you and they're going to be there to love you at the same time. Whether adversity hits you or if you have success, they're always going to be there."
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It's no surprise as Moreno contemplates a future career, that it revolves around basketball and giving back. He wants to coach and mentor the next generation of student-athletes.
"It's been a dream of mine to coach for a long time," he said. "With the way that my life has gone through basketball from the time I was a kid until now, I've been so fortunate to travel the world and the country, and I've been able to network and make a lot of connections. I love basketball; it's kind of what I do. The knowledge that I have, I don't want it to go to waste. And it allows me to be around the game for as long as I can be."
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Eastern Kentucky University's Giving Day 2021 will take place on Wednesday, April 14. The 24-hour online challenge is designed to increase giving participation among the entire EKU community.
Supporting Eastern Kentucky Athletics means providing opportunities for student-athletes to compete in the sport they love and earn their bachelor's degree – something they might not have otherwise had the opportunity to do. It means helping them pursue their dreams in life.
"It's a tremendous opportunity to be able to play at Eastern and go to school at Eastern," Moreno said. "The resources that I've been able to use while I've been here have been amazing. I grew up in a situation where I never really had to long for anything; I had what I needed. But as far as college came, my family was in no position to support me for college. This has given me a chance to walk out of college without having to worry about being buried up to my neck in student loans and student debt. Setting people up for life after college is really important."
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Give Your All: For Your State – Michael Moreno - EKU Sports
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