Mississippi State transfer Shakeel Moore gives the nod to Bill Self, Kansas

For the third time in his college career, Shakeel Moore, the 6-foot-1, 190-pound guard from Greensboro, N.C., is on the move. A member of the 2020 class, Moore, coming out of Moravian Prep Academy, signed with N.C. State over scholarship offers from the likes of Cincinnati, DePaul, Illinois, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Pittsburgh, Providence, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Wichita State, and others.

Moore, during his freshman season at N.C. State appeared in 25 games. Overall, he averaged 6.8 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. Offensively, he shot 43.8 percent from the field, 34.4 percent from behind the arc, and 51.7 percent from the free-throw line.

Moore ultimately decided to leave N.C. State and committed to Mississippi State. This past season, he appeared in 29 games and averaged 8.2 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game.

Moore, during those 29 games, shot 46.7 percent from the field, 36.1 percent from behind the arc, and 71.4 percent from the free-throw line.

Moore, during his time at both N.C. State and Mississippi State, was on the 2022-23 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List and was also named the 2020-21 ACC Freshman of the Week (Dec. 28, 2020).

The No. 115 ranked player in the 2020 class, Moore played in 124 career games, with 66 of his 68 career starts coming at Mississippi State. In all, the former four-star prospect scored 872 of his 1042 points (83.7 percent), 273 of his 336 rebounds (81.2 percent), 207 of his 250 assists (82.8 percent) and 135 of his 170 steals (79.4 percent) in Starkville.

Additionally, Moore connected on 42.4 percent of his shots from the field (390-of-919), 31.2 percent of his shots from behind the arc (129-of-413), and 70.7 percent of his free throws. (133-of-188).

Furthermore, Moore completed 40 of his 45 career games in double figures and 12 of his top at Mississippi State. While at N.C. State and Mississippi State, the programs were a combined 30-15 when Moore scored 10-plus points. Defensively, Moore was credited with multiple steals in 41 of 99 career games with the Bulldogs, while 41 of 52 efforts with 2 or more steals came at Mississippi State.

Lastly, Moore had 29 of his 36 outings with multiple threes while at Mississippi State, and tallied 20 of his 33 games with 3 or more assists in Starkville versus SEC opponents.

After entering the transfer portal in early April, Moore, late on Wednesday afternoon, announced his commitment to Kansas.

At the beginning of the week, KU’s roster consisted of Hunter Dickinson, Dajuan Harris, Jr., Justin Cross (walk-on), Jamari McDowell, Wilder Evers (walk-on), Elmarko Jackson, Patrick Cassidy (walk-on), Dillon Wilhite (walk-on), KJ Adams, Jr., Zach Clemence, AJ Storr, Zeke Mayo, Rylan Griffen, Noah Shelby (walk-on), Rakease Passmore, Flory Bidunga, and Will Thengvall. At that time, it looked like Bill Self would add one more player to KU’s roster for the 2024-25 season.

However, the Jayhawks suffered a devastating loss when sophomore guard Elmarko Jackson suffered a torn patellar tendon during Tuesday’s camp scrimmage in Lawrence. It didn’t take long for Self and his staff to stroke quickly, as Shakeel Moore announced his commitment to Kansas almost 24 hours after Jackson went down with a season-ending injury.

Currently, Self has 12 scholarship players on his roster, which isn’t likely to change when looking to the 2024-25 season.