New Jersey Big Quadri Moore Commits To Cincinnati

What They Are Saying

Quadri Moore to Cincinnati (UPDATED) || ZagsBlog.com

"He’s a guy who’s got to develop a back-to-the-basket game," New York recruiting expert Tom Konchalski previously told SNY.tv. "Right now he has a nice touch, he’s a little too infatuated with stepping outside and shooting 3′s. He’s gotta rebound more. He only had six rebounds, he’s got to rebound more. He’s got to learn to play 6-8. He’s lost 60 pounds, he’s in the best shape of his life, but he’s gotta learn to play 6-8."

Linden's Moore commits to Cincinnati || MyCentralJersey.com

"It definitely meant a lot in the decision," Moore said via phone Tuesday night. "They have been to the NCAA Tournament the past couple of years. That was something I looked at. And they did have a lot of bigs who had great careers there."

Boys Basketball: Linden forward Quadri Moore commits to Cincinnati over Seton Hall || NJ.com

"I went through all the pros and cons with my family at a family meeting," Moore told The Star-Ledger in a phone call on Tuesday. "It basically came down to what school I felt more comfortable at and which coach I felt more comfortable with."

Four-star center Quadri Moore commits to Cincinnati || CollegeBasketballTalk

The 6-foot-9 Moore is ranked as the No. 103 overall player in the Class of 2014 by Rivals. He also held offers from Georgetown, Providence, Rutgers, Seton Hall and St. John’s. According to many, it came down to Cincinnati and Seton Hall. Jerry Carino of MyCentralJersey.com noted that a long relationship with Mick Cronin, and especially assistant coach Darren Savino — a Jersey native who played under Hall of Famer Bob Hurley, Sr. at St. Anthony High — played a big role.

Video

Video Notes; Quadri is either #33 or #30 in all of the above clips. The exception is the last video which is a mixtape. Also when watching the longer videos hitting the arrow key forward skips the video ahead about three seconds. very handy for fast forwarding through fouls, in bounding, bring the ball up court etc.

My Take

I am not a recruiting expert, nor do I pretend to be one in this space. But I have opinions, and I like to express them regardless of their being true or not. Quadri is athletic, but he is not athletic all the time. He is skilled, but he is not skilled all the time. He is capable of playing sound fundamental defense, but he doesn't always exert effort on that end. He can protect the rim from the weak side, but he doesn't try to block the moon on every layup. He isn't allergic to rebounding, but its not exactly a compulsion for him either. He can cover ground at an astonishing clip, but far more often he is plodding when getting from end to end.

Moore has an expansive skill set. He can step out, take and make spot up three pointers. He can take a hard dribble to either side and pull up and drain a 15 footer. He can slice to the hole on the dribble. He is an effective if not spectacular passer. He can also take it to the rack and finish with contact. Quite frankly he reminds me a lot of Yancy Gates.

(waits for audience to finish rolling their eyes)

And that's fine. After last year I would take a thousand Yancy's rather than watching last year's post play. Its true, you never really miss something until its gone. Yancy could get you a bucket or a foul when you gave it to him in position. Last years guys could get you a bad shot or a turnover in the same spots. The things that were annoying about Yancy I see in Quadri Moore. The tendency to drift, always, towards the three point line. The preference for a fade away jumper rather than going through contact, the needless gambles on steals.

The difference for Moore is that he is going to have to refine his game to get run with the Bearcats. Yancy never really had to do that. He was a big part of the offense from day one, for sheer lack of other options. So he was given all sorts of opportunities to indulge his desire to jack terrible 18 footers and ignore defensive rules.

That will not be the case for Moore. If Jermaine Lawrence stays for his sophomore season, and he probably should given just how ridiculous his class is Moore is going to have to take on the role of an interior banger. The presumptive starting five for 2014 will be Troy Caupain, Kevin Johnson, Deshaun Morman, Jermaine Lawrence and big guy X.

Presuming the Bearcats will want to go four around one, and I will presume that, those will be the four perimeter guys. Moore will probably want the role that Lawrence is going to assume from day one, that of a perimeter based stretch four. But Lawrence is better at that, he is simply on a different plane of athletic existence than Moore, and the other 90 percent of humanity.

To get time as a freshman Moore is going to have to embrace the fact that anytime he steps on the floor he will be bigger and stronger than almost everyone he plays. It took Mick Cronin three and a half years to get that point across to Yancy Gates. Hopefully it takes less time with his doppelganger.