There's a nice profile on Truman High's Steve Moore, Mizzou's first basketball commitment for the class of 2008, in the Jackson County Examiner (free registration required). I knew that Moore was Mike Anderson's kind of player when I read that he runs five miles a day on a cross country course of his own design. That, friends, is dedication.
The Internet chatter around Moore's commitment has been laced with puzzlement, largely because his name hasn't been bandied about nearly as much as high-profile targets like Scott Suggs and Travis Releford, and because he doesn't have a sky-high ranking from the recruiting services. But I feel awfully good about Moore for a couple of reasons (in addition to his aforementioned work ethic):
1) At 6-feet-9 and 235 pounds, he already has a Division I body that's likely to improve with another year of maturity and some time with Mizzou's strength and conditioning staff; and
2) If Mike Anderson's staff was willing to take his commitment in the June before his senior year, they must really like him.
With at least five more scholarships to give for 2008, this class figures to be the foundation for Mizzou's hoops success over the next few years. Hopefully, we'll be able to look back at Steve Moore as the guy who got the ball rolling.
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