MORGANTOWN — At one time in his life, Chance Moore was the type of basketball recruit that was bragged about heavily on social media, all of it with the hopes that the forward from Brookhaven, Ga. would pick their school.
He was a consensus 4-star kid, ranked No. 72 nationally by ESPN.
That was 2021, what probably seems like ages ago for Moore, who is now rapidly developing into West Virginia’s most consistent players.
WVU head coach Ross Hodge agrees with that notion, but the fact doesn’t surprise him in the least.
“He’s an experienced player and a top 100 player coming out of high school,” Hodge said. “He’s just so physical with his ability to drive the basketball and he gets on top of people really quick.”
Moore’s career began at Arkansas, and that season ties into somewhat with his story at WVU.
“He was part of a really good (NCAA) tournament team at Arkansas,” Hodge said. “Like a lot of young players, who couldn’t quite find his way there at that time.”
Moore played five games with the Razorbacks for a grand total of eight minutes that season, essentially wasting what could have been a redshirt season. He transferred to Missouri State and played two seasons that ended in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.
Last season, Moore transferred again to St. Bonaventure, where he averaged 13 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. That was thought to be his career, except he gave Hodge and WVU an opportunity with the idea that WVU would petition the NCAA for an extra season of eligibility based on his first season at Arkansas shouldn’t have counted as an entire season.
The NCAA agreed and awarded Moore a fifth year with the condition he sit out the first five games of the season.
“It went relatively fast,” Moore said of sitting out. “I did want to be out there for that Pitt game. That was a great environment. I just tried to support my guys and root for them. It feels good to be back now.”
It feels better for the Mountaineers (8-3), who travel to Cleveland on Saturday to face Ohio State. Moore’s abilities are the type of addition that quite possibly no one else on WVU’s roster have.
“He has that quick second jump,” Hodge said. “Like, he isn’t missing it on purpose, but sometimes you’re like, ‘Are you just throwing it up there so you can jump back up and tip it in?’ I think his habits, his defensive habits, his practice habits and his commitment have really grown in all of those areas.”
Since missing those five games, Moore’s immediate impact has been impressive. The funny thing is, most of the games he’s played so far have come against teams that once recruited him out of high school.
Clemson was after him. Moore, in what was his first game in a WVU uniform, scored 16 and added five rebounds and two blocked shots against the Tigers.
Xavier recruited him, too. That’s the only game Moore has failed to make a positive impact in for WVU, which was just his second game back.
Wake Forest was another school that was after Moore’s services. The WVU forward went for 16 points and eight rebounds in last week’s loss to the Demon Deacons.
No, Ohio State wasn’t on Moore’s final list of schools, but it would be somewhat surprising at this point if Moore didn’t have some type of positive impact against the Buckeyes.
He’s averaged 12 points and nearly six rebounds per game since becoming eligible and Moore came out firing. He took 12 shots right off the bat against Clemson, and – minus the Xavier game – has taken at least eight shots against everyone else.
The concern of Moore suddenly coming back and stepping on his teammates’ toes was never an issue.
“He’s just so different than anyone else we have,” Hodge said. “When you’re putting together the puzzle, you’ve got your point guards and your shooting and your size, but (Moore) has a physicality of getting in the paint that is so different than anybody else.
“Our guys are self-aware. Honor (Huff) knows he can’t do what Chance does. Chance knows he can’t do what (Brenen Lorient) does. There is an acceptance amongst the group that we’re going to need everybody. If we’re going to do what we want to do, we’re going to need everybody.”
