More on Moore (get it, right?)

Sunday morning we learned University of Southern California freshman point guard Alexis Moore had committed to Penn. As he does not meet any NCAA transfer exception rules, he will sit out the 2012-13 season. He won't be a contributor until the current sophomore class is in their final season, but that isn't stopping us from speculating on how he'll fit into what will be a pretty solid Quakers squad.

Problem is, while we can look at statistics all day, there's not much we can gain from them. Moore was thrown into the starting point guard position much quicker than he should have been, and his team left little to work with. The Trojans went 1-17 in the Pac-12 last year, and Moore is the third USC transfer this year. His relatively low stats — 4.3 points and 2.0 rebounds per game off 24.8 minutes — aren't great, but neither were Zack Rosen's his freshman year. Rosen averaged 8.1 points, 6 assists and 31.1 minutes per game on a 10-18 Quakers squad. Sure, Rosen's stat line is markedly better, but the point is you can't judge a book by its cover.

As someone who hasn't seen Moore play in person (I did watch some post-game pressers, and I found him to be extremely well-spoken, intelligent, defensive-minded and coachable), I can't comment on how he will fit into the team after he sits a year and learn's coach Allen's gameplan. But I can check out what others from USC have had to say about Moore. Click the jump for the quotes: From USCHoops.com —

Alexis was the de facto spokesman for a team that was devoid of leadership. He put himself out there during myriad interviews, taking blame in instances where even his coach wouldn't. Sure, he had a rough year, largely because he was playing out of position, but you could tell there was a lot of potential and upside there.
Sad to see the kid go, he seemed like a great kid and definitely had a lot of heart. I really thought he had some potential although he probably wasn't ready to play as many minutes this year as he got.

You were a great representative of SC and a class act all the way. On the one hand, I'm very sorry to see you go because you are such a great kid, but on the other hand, you will definitely be in a better situation with a coach who respects your talent and can coach you on offense. Your next school will be lucky to get you. Fight On!