Jalen Moore has been on campus at Oakland University for less than a year, yet he is already making huge waves in the Horizon League and nationally.
Through 27 games at the Division I level, Moore is averaging a team-best 17.8 points per game and leads the country in four statistical categories, including free throw makes (154) and total assists (227).
Let's go back in time, though.
In Moore's senior year at Cloverdale High School, he was closing in on 2,000 points for his high school career. He would go on to become the 52nd player in Indiana high school history to reach this mark.
After he reached the milestone, Kyle Neddenreip of the IndyStar gathered a quote from Jalen's father, William, a modest 6-feet tall in his playing days at Murray State. William said he recycled advice his coach had given him nearly two decades before.
"If you have a bigger player guarding you, there's no reason you can't drive around him."
That is what Moore did then, did at the junior college level, and has done consistently for the Golden Grizzlies.
Moore averaged 36.8 points per game in his senior year of high school and garnered interest from multiple Division I schools but never received an offer. In Moore's words, he "shot himself in the foot." Proverbially of course.
The next option for Moore involved offers he received from junior college programs. He ended up landing at Olney Central College in Southeastern Illinois, where he played for two years.
"The first thing that stood out to me was that he truly was a point guard."
Last January, before the world shut down due to COVID-19, Oakland's associate head coach,
Jeff Smith, made the 7-hour trip down Olney Central for two games in his search for a point guard the team was desperately in need of.
What Smith saw in Moore foreshadowed what Oakland fans would see on a weekly basis nearly a year later.
"The first thing that stood out to me was that he truly was a point guard," coach Smith said.
Early in that game, almost immediately after the tip, Moore put the ball under his arm and started telling people where to go like a conductor to an orchestra.
Another aspect Smith touched on was his speed with the ball, which is a staple of
Greg Kampe's offensive philosophy. He wants a point guard who can push the pace of the game and quickly get from one end of the court to the other.
This is a part of Moore's game that makes people draw comparisons to Kay Felder. The stats do not paint the whole picture of the impact he has on the game and the intangibles that have
helped him seamlessly fit in at Oakland.
Smith went on to comment on Moore's ability to make plays for others. As noted above, he currently leads the NCAA total assists and is second nationally in assists per game (8.4). He also leads in three other statistical categories including free throw attempts (197), free throw makes (154), and minutes played (1009:50).
"Something that really stood out to me was how much he got fouled. He was living at the free throw line as he has here for us." Smith said.
What makes Moore as good as he is under the coaching of Kampe are skills he previously possessed. This was not a point guard built after arriving on campus, but instead, a case where he had all of the skills the program desired in a point guard.
"Playing those tough teams at the beginning of the year has helped my game in conference play. The game has really slowed down for me."
In a normal year, Moore would have the opportunity to grow as a player over the entire summer and come into the first practice with time spent learning the play style of the program and finding his spot within the identity of Oakland's team. But due to COVID-19, his arrival on campus was delayed. This included a three-week shutdown from a team-wide quarantine. Thus, one could speculate that there would be a long way to go before he finally started to produce. Almost immediately, that speculation was put to rest.
Early in the season, the Golden Grizzlies played a slew of non-conference games against big-name, Power-5 opponents. They started their season 0-7 against those powerhouse teams, which served as a ramp-up to the talent found throughout the Horizon League. Despite the slow start, Moore proved that he belonged by averaging 16.4 points, 5.4 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.7 steals in the first seven games of the season.
"Playing those tough teams at the beginning of the year has helped my game in conference play," Moore said. "The game has really slowed down for me."
What people most look at in college basketball players is their metaphorical "ceiling." That is to say, what is the best possibility for a specific player, and what's the best that they can be. Coach Smith's response to that question was straightforward, "I don't think that there is a ceiling for him."
His growth from the beginning of the season to the present has been impressive, as his three-point shooting and free throw percentage have steadily improved. Under normal circumstances, the Golden Grizzlies would be hoping for one good year out of Moore, but in unprecedented times, there is more time for him to improve.
Moore has always envisioned himself playing in the NBA. There is a very important distinction between envision and dream for him.
"I wouldn't say it's been a dream of mine, but It's been a vision because I don't dream of things like that," Moore explained. "I see myself doing it. I don't dream of myself doing it."
