Post by blackandgold on Apr 14, 2020 16:13:35 GMT -5
Jalen Moore's commitment was mentioned in another thread, but just starting this one to relay the pertinent details on Oakland's newest player. There is a part of me that doesn't want to get too excited these days with how few players seem to stick around here for various reasons, but at the same time, we have a potentially exciting player coming to wear the black and gold, who has a chip on his shoulder.
Jalen Moore is a 5-10, 160-pound guard originally from Cloverdale, Indiana. Cloverdale is smack in the middle of Terre Haute and Indianapolis on I-70. By all accounts, Moore's time at Cloverdale High was truly exceptional. Early on, he played with Cooper Neese, who became a legend while there. Neese left Cloverdale as the No. 7 in IHSAA history for scoring with 2,496 points. He committed to Butler as a junior, only to transfer before ever playing a game. Upon transferring, the Butler student newspaper said Butler fans loved him and hoped he would be the next Gordon Hayward, a born-and-bred Hoosier who could take Butler deep in March. He ended up going to Indiana State, in nearby Terre Haute, where he has been a sometimes-starter in two seasons.
So Neese was a legend at Cloverdale, and meanwhile Moore was building his own storied high school record. With Neese graduated, Moore became the go-to man in his senior season. As a senior, he became the fifth player in IHSAA boys basketball history to surpass 1,000 points in a season. Other players to do that include Steve Alford, George McGinnis, and Trevon Bluiett. All told, he finished 11th all-time on the career scoring list with 2,440 points.
This feature story from the Indy Star has some great background on Moore:
www.indystar.com/story/sports/high-school/2018/01/31/guard-flirting-indianas-single-season-scoring-record-and-its-not-who-you-think/1082546001/
Some highlights:
- After starting out in junior college, Moore's dad played at Murray State. He helped Murray State reach the NCAA tournament as a senior.
- Moore's dad is the godfather of NBA player Trey Lyles. Moore is close with Lyles, enough so that he bypassed AAU after his junior year of high school to work out with him in the summer.
Moore was lightly recruited out of high school. He has spent the past two seasons at the junior college level at Olney Central, which is in the southern part of Illinois. Olney, IL is about a 2-hour drive from his home area of Cloverdale, IN. He got the "keys to the car" from the time he got there, and he leaves Olney Central as the school's all-time scoring and assists leader.
Freshman year: 30 Games, 19.3 PPG, 47.4% FG%, 40.8% 3PT%, 78.1% FT%, 2.9 RPG, 7.9 APG, 2.3 turnover/game. Team was 25-6, 14-4 in conference. Team scored 98.7 PPG.
Of note, Olney Central is in the same league as Vincennes, where Kevin Kangu played in 2018-19. Moore an Kangu faced off twice. In a game at Vincennes, Moore played 37 minutes in an OT win, scored 24 points, 5 assists, 7 turnovers. Kangu had a team-high 20 points. In the game at Olney, Moore played 34 minutes, scored 23 points, had 9 assists to 2 turnovers. Team lost by 20.
Sophomore year: Team was 24-6, 13-5 in onference. 30 Games, 22.6 PPG, 46.1% FG%, 37.1% 3PT%, 79.1% ft%, 5.0 rpg, 6.2 apg, 3.2 turnover/game. He gets to the line. His 299 attempts were the most in JUCO, while the 235 makes were the second most makes in JUCO.
He became a Junior College Division I Third-Team All-American. He had interest from several mid-majors, and his announced final five were: Appalachain State, Florida International, Oakland, Purdue Fort Wayne, and South Alabama. He chose Oakland.
Tony Paul notes that Moore is Oakland's first-ever JUCO All-American commit. Tony, who also wrote articles that would have made you think CJ Gettlefinger and Babatunde Sowunmi were the next Johnathon Jones and Keith Benson, writes, "Moore is a smaller guard, at 5-foot-10 and 160 pounds, not unlike the specs for Kay Felder, one of the best players in Oakland history," which is not entirely accurate or fair. Felder came in as an 18-year old with 20 more pounds of muscle. Spec wise, Moore is more like Brailen Neely.
www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/college/2020/04/10/oakland-finally-finds-point-guard-juco-all-american-transfer-jalen-moore/5135385002/
But his track record and highlight videos point to a player who can make an impact. Now, I'm the same guy who was excited by the high-level family athletic history and highlight videos of Madison Monroe, CJ Gettlefinger, and Chris Palombizio. So those attributes only go so far.
What I take away from all of this is that Moore has a chip on his shoulder from being undersized, underrecruited, and overlooked. He has played in offenses his whole career where he was given a lot of freedom, which is something Kampe has strongly encouraged and thrived on ... with certain players. If he is coming here as a point guard as Tony Paul indicates, I hope he can run the plays as desperately needed to stabilize the OU offense. Scoring-wise, he makes his money by driving the lane and getting free throws. Who else would welcome a return to hard drives to the basket at Oakland? Kangu and Moore slashing to the basket with regularity sounds really nice. Further, Moore has played alongside a fellow high-usage guard in his high school days when he paired with Conner Neese. If there were enough shots for the two of them, I am hopeful the same can be said of Moore and Rashad Williams. Those two could combine to be a fiery backcourt.
From a optimistic perspective, I think the fit is right. Cloverdale, IN and Olney, IL are small towns. Cloverdale seems especially tight-knit. To me, that has always been one of Oakland's greatest attributes. It's got a lot of students in a large metro area, but for those who really invest the time and energy into the campus, it's a small, tight-knit group. Alright, I totally sold myself on Jalen Moore as an impact player.
Freshman Year Highlights:
Sophomore Year Highlights:
Jalen Moore is a 5-10, 160-pound guard originally from Cloverdale, Indiana. Cloverdale is smack in the middle of Terre Haute and Indianapolis on I-70. By all accounts, Moore's time at Cloverdale High was truly exceptional. Early on, he played with Cooper Neese, who became a legend while there. Neese left Cloverdale as the No. 7 in IHSAA history for scoring with 2,496 points. He committed to Butler as a junior, only to transfer before ever playing a game. Upon transferring, the Butler student newspaper said Butler fans loved him and hoped he would be the next Gordon Hayward, a born-and-bred Hoosier who could take Butler deep in March. He ended up going to Indiana State, in nearby Terre Haute, where he has been a sometimes-starter in two seasons.
So Neese was a legend at Cloverdale, and meanwhile Moore was building his own storied high school record. With Neese graduated, Moore became the go-to man in his senior season. As a senior, he became the fifth player in IHSAA boys basketball history to surpass 1,000 points in a season. Other players to do that include Steve Alford, George McGinnis, and Trevon Bluiett. All told, he finished 11th all-time on the career scoring list with 2,440 points.
This feature story from the Indy Star has some great background on Moore:
www.indystar.com/story/sports/high-school/2018/01/31/guard-flirting-indianas-single-season-scoring-record-and-its-not-who-you-think/1082546001/
Some highlights:
- After starting out in junior college, Moore's dad played at Murray State. He helped Murray State reach the NCAA tournament as a senior.
- Moore's dad is the godfather of NBA player Trey Lyles. Moore is close with Lyles, enough so that he bypassed AAU after his junior year of high school to work out with him in the summer.
Moore was lightly recruited out of high school. He has spent the past two seasons at the junior college level at Olney Central, which is in the southern part of Illinois. Olney, IL is about a 2-hour drive from his home area of Cloverdale, IN. He got the "keys to the car" from the time he got there, and he leaves Olney Central as the school's all-time scoring and assists leader.
Freshman year: 30 Games, 19.3 PPG, 47.4% FG%, 40.8% 3PT%, 78.1% FT%, 2.9 RPG, 7.9 APG, 2.3 turnover/game. Team was 25-6, 14-4 in conference. Team scored 98.7 PPG.
Of note, Olney Central is in the same league as Vincennes, where Kevin Kangu played in 2018-19. Moore an Kangu faced off twice. In a game at Vincennes, Moore played 37 minutes in an OT win, scored 24 points, 5 assists, 7 turnovers. Kangu had a team-high 20 points. In the game at Olney, Moore played 34 minutes, scored 23 points, had 9 assists to 2 turnovers. Team lost by 20.
Sophomore year: Team was 24-6, 13-5 in onference. 30 Games, 22.6 PPG, 46.1% FG%, 37.1% 3PT%, 79.1% ft%, 5.0 rpg, 6.2 apg, 3.2 turnover/game. He gets to the line. His 299 attempts were the most in JUCO, while the 235 makes were the second most makes in JUCO.
He became a Junior College Division I Third-Team All-American. He had interest from several mid-majors, and his announced final five were: Appalachain State, Florida International, Oakland, Purdue Fort Wayne, and South Alabama. He chose Oakland.
Tony Paul notes that Moore is Oakland's first-ever JUCO All-American commit. Tony, who also wrote articles that would have made you think CJ Gettlefinger and Babatunde Sowunmi were the next Johnathon Jones and Keith Benson, writes, "Moore is a smaller guard, at 5-foot-10 and 160 pounds, not unlike the specs for Kay Felder, one of the best players in Oakland history," which is not entirely accurate or fair. Felder came in as an 18-year old with 20 more pounds of muscle. Spec wise, Moore is more like Brailen Neely.
www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/college/2020/04/10/oakland-finally-finds-point-guard-juco-all-american-transfer-jalen-moore/5135385002/
But his track record and highlight videos point to a player who can make an impact. Now, I'm the same guy who was excited by the high-level family athletic history and highlight videos of Madison Monroe, CJ Gettlefinger, and Chris Palombizio. So those attributes only go so far.
What I take away from all of this is that Moore has a chip on his shoulder from being undersized, underrecruited, and overlooked. He has played in offenses his whole career where he was given a lot of freedom, which is something Kampe has strongly encouraged and thrived on ... with certain players. If he is coming here as a point guard as Tony Paul indicates, I hope he can run the plays as desperately needed to stabilize the OU offense. Scoring-wise, he makes his money by driving the lane and getting free throws. Who else would welcome a return to hard drives to the basket at Oakland? Kangu and Moore slashing to the basket with regularity sounds really nice. Further, Moore has played alongside a fellow high-usage guard in his high school days when he paired with Conner Neese. If there were enough shots for the two of them, I am hopeful the same can be said of Moore and Rashad Williams. Those two could combine to be a fiery backcourt.
From a optimistic perspective, I think the fit is right. Cloverdale, IN and Olney, IL are small towns. Cloverdale seems especially tight-knit. To me, that has always been one of Oakland's greatest attributes. It's got a lot of students in a large metro area, but for those who really invest the time and energy into the campus, it's a small, tight-knit group. Alright, I totally sold myself on Jalen Moore as an impact player.
Freshman Year Highlights:
Sophomore Year Highlights:
