Philly Basketball 24 • 7 • 365

City of Basketball Love

Current Section

Home

DMV's Alani Moore includes Temple in final list

08/28/2015, 11:00am EDT

By Ari Rosenfeld

Ari Rosenfeld (@realA_rosenfeld)
--

With the graduation of two-year starter Will Cummings in May, it’s no secret that Temple currently has a hole at the point guard spot.

Incoming freshman Levan Alston, a Haverford School grad, figures to see some time on the ball this season, but Fran Dunphy is undoubtedly looking for his point guard of the future in the 2016 recruiting class. After missing out on recent Penn State-commit and Roman Catholic senior Tony Carr, the Owls still find themselves in search of that prototypical floor general.

That could come in the form of Alani Moore, a lightning quick, 5-foot-10 lead guard from the Baltimore area. Moore, ranked as either a four or three star recruit depending on the scouting service, includes Temple in his final four schools, with the Owls joining UMass, Seton Hall, and Georgia Tech in the competition for his services.

With his recruiting stock having elevated after a strong summer playing with DC Premier, more high-majors such as Purdue and Providence had begun recruiting Moore, but that waned off after both schools received other commitments.

In the end, Moore removed Central Florida, Rhode Island, and Penn State from his list to arrive at the current group of schools.

“I knew all four of those schools, they all fit my style of play and I have good relationships with all of those coaches,” he said as to why decided to narrow things down.

As of now, he’s scheduled official visits to Temple, where he’ll arrive today (August 28), Seton Hall (September 3rd), and UMass (September 8th), with a visit to Georgia Tech possibly in the works depending on “the situations with the other three schools.”

Moore provided CoBL a quick breakdown of what he likes about each school, with his respective relationships at each program standing out as an important factor for him:

Temple- “I like their coaching staff. They’ve got a great coaching staff and a great head coach.”

UMass- “I have a really good relationship with one of their assistants, coach [Shyrone Chatman]... UMass has been there the longest. [Head] coach [Derek] Kellogg and I have been talking for a long, long time now.”

Seton Hall- “When I played up, [sophomore guard] Isaiah [Whitehead] was on the team and I knew him, so it would be good playing with him.

Georgia Tech- “They just kind of offered me recently, so I don’t have as much to say about them but I know the head coach, and one other player from the DMV-area committed up there and said he liked it a lot, so it would be good if we both went there and played together.”

Moore has already seen each school to which he is scheduled to take an official visit, as he spent time on all three campuses unofficially over the summer.

In getting his second look at each school and program, he has a clear vision of what he’s looking for during his official visits, during which he can spend 48 hours at the school and have his expenses paid for by the universities.

“The campus life, I’m looking for how the players interact with me,” Moore said. “I didn’t get to meet all the players when I was there the first time, so when I get there I’ll see how the players like me and I how I interact with them. Basically, just see how the day goes and also what the campus looks like when it’s full with a bunch of people.”

Though he’s not as highly-ranked as some of Fran Dunphy’s other recent newcomers, Moore has the chance to be an impact recruit for the Temple program due to the important hole that he could fill on the Owls' roster.

A true point guard, he excels in the open, fast-paced style that Dunphy prefers. He uses his quickness and tight handle to get into the lane to create for himself and his teammates, and also has a strong enough jumper to take advantage of defenders going underneath ball screens.

Temple fans shouldn’t have to wait long to find out if Moore will be taking his talents to North Broad, as he plans on wrapping up his recruitment shortly after taking his visits.

“I wouldn’t give a specific date, but it’s most likely gonna be next month sometime,” he said when asked about a timeframe for his decision. “Definitely before the high school season it’s going to be done.”

Before transitioning to college, however, Moore will first have to adjust to a new high school.

With former national power Montrose Christian (Md.) opting to “de-emphasize” basketball, Moore will follow his Montrose head coach, Bryan Bartley, to Friendship Collegiate Academy in Washington D.C.

After concluding up the tedious recruiting process in the near future, Moore is looking to shift his focus towards his senior season, ideally helping Friendship Collegiate reach the level of national prominence that Montrose Christian once had.

“After July and I had a good summer, it’s picked up and it’s been a good process. It’s been long though,” Moore said. “It’s been great doing this experience and I’m just trying to finish everything out and get ready for this high school season, and after that, college.”