This is the ninth installment of our summer "Getting to know" series on IU's 10 new players. Today, we focus on Daniel Moore, a 5-foot-10 165 pound guard from Carmel, Ind.
Behind Daniel Moore A jitterbug guard from Carmel, Daniel Moore is like many undersized point guards. He's a team leader, a good passer, a guy who plays with a lot of energy and is consistent. He impressed Kelvin Sampson enough that IU's former head coach offered Moore to be a preferred walk-on at IU. Moore -- like many Hoosier kids -- grew up wanting to play college ball for the in-state Hoosiers and accepted Sampson's offer before his senior year.
But Moore's play his senior year eventually drew the interest of several Division I schools, most notably Boston. It didn't help that while Boston came calling Sampson's career at IU was turning into a gasoline-drenched fire. Moore visited IU, but ultimately decided the opportunity to be a Hoosier and play for Tom Crean meant too much to him.
At Carmel, Moore played varsity all four seasons. In addition to being a First-team All-State basketball player, he was also a First-team All-State soccer play. Despite being better sized for soccer, Moore eventually put the sport aside to focus on basketball. During his senior year, Moore was named an Indiana All-Star and Hamilton County Player of the Year.
On the floor One reason Moore drew interest from D-I schools is because he's a pure point guard. All of the cliches apply. He's a floor general. He can run an offense. But what makes Moore so valuable is his energy. He's constantly moving on the floor whether he has the ball or is on defense. He isn't much of a stat-sheet stuffer, even when he played in high school. His game isn't flashy, but he makes his team better.
How Moore fits in with the Hoosiers Preferred or not, walk-ons rarely see the floor during Big Ten season. But there are exceptions. Barring amnesia, we all remember how big of a contributor Errek Suhr became a couple of years ago for the Hoosiers. He went from the hardest working guy in practice to the hardest working guy on the floor in crunch time. Moore had a similar high school career to Suhr and there are plenty of parallels when looking at their games: hard workers, undersized, high energy etc. In a Q&A with IU Planet, Moore said he thinks he can be "a spark off the bench, I play with a lot of energy, so hopefully I can find a role where I can help the team and try to be good at it."
People who know more than me on Moore "I think they're both players who are different in their own ways but the common themes for both is to not back down in practice, workouts or in the classroom. They'll take on any kind of challenge. They're great student-athletes first and very good basketball players." - Carmel coach Mark Galloway on Moore/Finkelmeier (Indy Star)
"(Moore is) a player that has emerged and now people realize that he is as good or better than any of the household names we've been hearing about and reading about, this season particularly. I don't think right now in boys high school basketball in this state, that there's a player, particularly a point guard, that makes his team better than Daniel Moore." - Hoosier Basketball Magazine publisher Garry Donna (Indy Star)
The numbers don't lie... '07-'08: 13.5 ppg and 7.8 apg
More on Moore * What do Tom Coverdale, D.J. White and Daniel Moore have in common? Give up? After this season begins, the three all will have worn No. 3 for the Hoosiers. * A YouTube video of Moore taking it to the hole in a high school game. * In case you forgot, Moore and Brett Finkelmeier played together at Carmel during Moore's freshman and sophomore seasons. * A Q&A from IUPlanet with Daniel Moore.
