2019 DeMatha G Justin Moore Talks Notre Dame & More
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – After losing to Washington, D.C.’s Gonzaga College High School on Thursday, the DeMatha boys’ basketball team was eager to make a statement on the national stage and the Spalding HoopHall Classic provided just that opportunity on Sunday.
The Stags took full advantage, dispatching Archbishop Molloy from Queens, N.Y., 77-55 in the premier showcase event.
“It was great to make a statement after we lost Thursday,” DeMatha junior guard Justin Moore said afterward. “We wanted to come back strong and prove that we’re still one of the top teams in the country.”
Moore scored 21 points to help lead DeMatha to the victory.
“I was just trying to make sure we put them away,” said Moore, who did just that by taking over during a stretch in the second half. “I’m the leader of this team, so I had to make sure we got them out of there to secure the W.”
The 6-foot-4, 190-pound guard is a top commodity on the recruiting trail in the Class of 2019 and Notre Dame is one school that’s chasing him hard.
“It’s a great school,” Moore said of Notre Dame. “I visited there and I loved it there. I have a great relationship with Coach (Mike) Brey, so it’s great there.”
Obviously, the ties between South Bend and Hyattsville, Md., are strong.
“The campus and the connections I have with the coaches,” Moore said of what he likes about Notre Dame. “Mike Brey went to DeMatha, so we have that connection already that clocks.”
His former DeMatha teammate, DJ Harvey, provides another connection and the Notre Dame freshman is already logging major minutes for the Irish.
“I talk to him every now and then,” Moore said of Harvey. “He tells me about wanting me to come there and how I fit in.
“I’ll just keep in contact with the coaches, see what they want me to do, see how I fit in there and where it goes.”
Moore doesn’t have any visits scheduled for the future and doesn’t have a timeline for a decision, but has plenty of suitors.
“Maryland is really looking at me, Xavier, Wake Forest,” he listed. “UVA offered me a couple weeks ago. Villanova was here today, they’re really looking at me.”
When hearing the factors that will go into Moore’s decision, it’s no surprise the Irish remain strongly in the mix.
“The connection I have with the coaches and how I’d fit in and if I could play right away.”