DeMatha’s Moore adds commitment to Wildcats

Jay Wright is having a pretty good spring. He won a second national championship in three years, received the John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching award, had an audience with Pope Francis, shared a stage with former first lady Michelle Obama and has landed two top recruits in the class of 2019.

Justin Moore, a four-star guard out of DeMatha Catholic in Hyattsville, Md., made a verbal commitment to the Wildcats Wednesday.

The 6-4 Moore selected Villanova over Maryland, Louisville and Wake Forest, according to published reports. He also had offers from Notre Dame, Virginia, Penn State, Xavier, Cincinnati and Old Dominion.

He is the second highly touted recruit to commit to the Wildcats. Abington forward Eric Dixon (6-7, 250), the Class 6A Player of the Year in Pennsylvania, announced last month that he will attend Villanova.

“It was the best decision for me,” Moore told .“I connected with all the coaches, and I feel like I can come and contribute right away on the court. Their academics are great and they have a plan for me after basketball.”

Moore is a combo guard who bounced back nicely after suffering a torn ACL in January 2017. He averaged 16.6 points per game to lead the Stags to a 31-5 record and their first Washington Catholic Athletic Conference title since 2011.

A strong rebounder, Moore was the leading scorer for Team Takeover on the AAU circuit, averaging 11.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.

Moore is ranked No. 58 overall and No. 9 in the shooting guard category by 247sports.com, No. 57 and No. 10 by Rivals.com and No. 58/No. 15 by ESPN.com. “I’m a born winner,” Moore told

“I make winning plays. I scored and I defend. I’m a Villanova guy.”