Former HBCU star drawing interest from SEC, ACC contenders

Yesterday at 10:39 PM

After hitting the transfer portal, former Norfolk State guard Brian Moore Jr. appears to be drawing massive interest from many institutions that look to secure his services. On3 Sports reporter Joe Tipton, via his agent Adam Papas, reported that Moore has received interest from Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt, Cincinnati, Florida State, Pitt, Grand Canyon, High Point, San Diego State, Oklahoma State, Wake Forest, Seton Hall, Xavier, Santa Clara, Arizona State, George Mason, West Virginia, and Stanford.

Several teams across the nation, including those from the ACC and SEC, are actively pursuing Moore Jr. for his unique skillset. This season, Moore Jr. played a key role for Norfolk State, starting all 35 games and leading them to the NCAA tournament against top-ranked Florida. Before joining Norfolk State, he spent two seasons at Murray State, where he averaged eight and nine points per game.

As a junior at Norfolk State, Moore Jr. had a standout year, averaging 18 points, four rebounds, and three assists per game. He showcased his shooting ability by hitting 39% of his three-point attempts per game. In the MEAC, he ranked among the leaders in points, made field goals, and offensive rating. His performance earned him a spot on the All-MEAC first team and the MVP title of the MEAC tournament, where he helped Norfolk State secure its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2021-22. Moore Jr. scored in double figures in 33 of 35 games this season, including three games where he surpassed the 30-point mark.

Moore Jr. could certainly fit on a team looking for a playmaking guard who has shown he can be an efficient scorer. But, his departure from a Norfolk State team that looks to continue to build upon their winning momentum signals a problem for mid-major programs in retaining talent in the transfer portal era.

Norfolk State head coach Robert Jones launched on the transfer portal era in an interview with WAVY’s Jaems Kattato.

"This is now a glorified JUCO. This is like Norfolk State Community College," Jones said in the interview. "And when I say that, not because of the people or anything like that — but it's just the way it is. JUCO coaches, I have so much more respect for them these days, because they have to get a new team every year/every two years. Now we gotta get a new team every year/every too so we're basically a glorifed JUCO."

He continued, "Until mid-majors — and not just Norfolk State — get the money that high majors have, we're never going to be able to keep kids for a long time. It's easy to get 'em but it's hard to retain 'em. You can get them because there's a lot of kids that want the opportunities. But once they get the opportunity and they blow up, it's hard to retain 'em. Because now the big boys are going to come."

In part, Jones’s comments are a harsh reality of the current era of college athletics. But, it surely says a lot that he was able to recruit a star level talent such as Moore to come to his program and continue their culture of contention in the MEAC.

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