NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing top 5 teams for top-50 forward Alier Maluk

Four-star NCAA Basketball prospect Alier Maluk is down to four options. Which of them makes the most sense from a roster standpoint?

The Pittsburgh region has several quality prospects in the 2025 NCAA Basketball recruiting class. One of them is Alier Maluk, a 6’10 big man who’s a consensus four-star prospect, ranked around the top 50 overall. He’s a nice combination of athletic and skilled, capable of spacing the floor.

Maluk has recently announced a list of five teams in contention, spread throughout the country. Does any of them stand out from a roster standpoint? Here’s a closer look.

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Florida State Seminoles

Coach Hamilton has had great success with all kinds of frontcourt players and that could play well in this recruitment. He also plays large rotations so Maluk would’ve found a way to get into the rotation, even if Cameron Corhen and Baba Miller were still around. The biggest question is whether Hamilton, who would be 77 years old by then, will still be around.

LSU Tigers

The Tigers don’t have a lot of frontcourt depth for the future, with all of the current players being seniors. They did land four-star power forward Robert Miller, who’s ranked in the top-75. The one question here is that after finishing last in the SEC in his first year, HC Matt McMahon has to prove he’s the guy long-term, or else he’ll be on the hot seat before the 2025 class arrives.

Ohio State Buckeyes

Coach Chris Holtmann has a nice history of sending prospects in the top-50 range to the NBA. That could include the two four-star freshmen forwards, Scotty Middleton and Devin Royal. But at Ohio State, prospects that are more raw and don’t get onto the court could end up buried on the bench since the program consistently lands top-20 recruiting classes.

Oregon Ducks

A family connection has the west-coast program in the mix and HC Dana Altman has a great history of winning high-profile recruiting battles. That includes the two five-star freshmen forwards, Mookie Cook and KJ Evans. With N’Faly Dante and Nathan Bittle gone by the time the 2025 class comes, there’s plenty of available room for Maluk to come in.

Pittsburgh Panthers

As the local program, the Panthers making the cut isn’t a surprise. And after making the NCAA Tournament for the first time in seven years, there’s a true recruiting pitch to make for the prospect. Starters Blake Hinson and Federiko Federiko will be gone by then, while twins Jorge and Guillermo Diaz-Graham will be seniors.