Duke’s Wendell Moore is rising up mock drafts after fast start to his junior season

Wendell Moore, 6-foot-5 with a 7-foot wingspan, is the point guard for Duke. He is a junior but only four months older than Chet Holmgren.

Wendell Moore Jr. was a high school McDonald’s All-American who was a five-star recruit. When he committed to Duke, he was a projected first-round pick expected to play just one collegiate season.

As a freshman, things didn’t go according to plan for Moore. With a chiseled frame and a 7-foot wingspan, the 6-foot-6 wing showed promise on defense. But he averaged fewer points per possession in a set offense than 88 percent of all college players. He recorded just 7.4 points per game and he recorded more turnovers than assists. Mock drafts quickly forgot about him.

Flash forward and now a junior, Duke needed Moore to make the proverbial leap in order for the team to have success during Coach K’s final season as head coach of the Blue Devils. Moore is Duke’s elder statesman and he is one of the most athletically gifted players as well.

Rather than moving him off-ball, Duke decided to lean in and make him a bigger part of its offensive attack. The risk paid off and not only does he look much better on the floor but the numbers say so, too, as he leads the ACC in the catch-all metric box plus-minus.

Moore is currently reaching thresholds of averaging 16 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 1.5 steals per game.

Over the course of a full season, only six players on record have actually accomplished as much before their senior year. Four of those six were Penny Hardaway (3rd overall in 1993), Jason Kidd (2nd overall in 1994), Chauncey Billups (3rd overall in 1997) and Evan Turner (2nd overall in 2010). All were top 3 picks when selected in the NBA draft.

Maybe those are lofty expectations for someone who averaged less than 9.0 ppg during his first two collegiate campaigns. But things are very different for Moore, who on Nov. 12 became the fifth player in Duke history to record a triple-double, now that his role has changed.

Moore, who is 6-foot-5, is effectively the point guard for the Blue Devils these days. He actually leads his conference in assist percentage (30.4 percent) and when he is running the pick and roll, he is averaging more points per possession (1.22 PPP) than 95 percent of college players.

Meanwhile, as a freshman, Moore had just four three-pointers and three dunks and he missed about half his shots at the rim. Those were arguably the biggest offensive concerns he needed to address.

These days, his jumper has gotten better both off the catch and off the bounce. But just as notably, after just eight games, Moore has already thrown down more dunks than he did in either his freshman year or in his sophomore year. He has also increased his field-goal percentage at the rim all the way up to nearly 75 percent at the rim and most of those looks have been unassisted.

The craziest part is that Moore is going to be just 20 years old on the night of the draft, which makes him just four months older than Gonzaga freshman Chet Holmgren.

Moore, who was always a versatile defensive player, clearly put in the work during the offseason. As a result, he is someone who is going to start appearing in the first round on future NBA mock drafts once again.

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