Julian Moore chooses Penn State
While the Penn State football program has seen its fair share of recruiting troubles and uncertainties over the last couple weeks, the Nittany Lions’ basketball program took a positive step forward – with a brand new power forward – last Friday.
Germantown Academy big man Julian Moore, a 6-foot-10 rising senior, gave his verbal commitment to play basketball at the University of Penn State starting in 2013, following what hH hRSHV WR EH D PHPRUDEOH finDO yHDU at GA.
After averaging roughly 12 points and 14 rebounds per game during his junior season with the Patriots, Moore gained interest and eventually offers from several Division 1 schools, including La Salle, Drexel, James Madison, Boston University, Virginia Commonwealth and Duquesne. But in the end, Penn State was where Moore wanted to play.
“When I sat down with my parents, we decided that (Penn State) was the EHVW fiW IRU PH DFDGHPLFDOOy DnG DWhletically,” said Moore, who grew two inches this past summer. “They have an incredible engineering program, the accolades of the school in general are great and I loved everything about the school when I visited.”
Moore, who plans on majoring in engineering, was invited up for an unRIfiFLDO YLVLW DnG D EDVNHWEDOO FDPS earlier this summer, where he met with head coach Pat Chambers, as well as the rest of the coaching staff and players.
“The whole team was amazing,” Moore said. “They were really positive and their attitude is always upbeat and encouraging. I love that it’s a young coaching staff because they’re always full of energy and that’s one thing I was looking for. I loved the facilities and the history of the athletics at Penn State and I wanted to be a part of it.”
Moore will join Shaler Area guard Geno Thorpe as Penn State’s second commit in this class. He will also join current AAU teammate, Isaiah Washington, who is a verbal for Penn State’s 2014 class.
But before traveling to State College next year, Moore has a chance to be part of something special at GA.
The Patriots, who play in the very competitive Inter-Ac League, return
year’s team. And under coach Jim Fenerty, who will be entering his 24th season with the program, GA has big plans for this season.
“Jules has worked so hard and has kept a positive attitude through this entire thing,” Fenerty said. “I’m real pleased for him and he can now focus on this year. We have all of our starters coming back this fall and we’ll be competing for a league title.”
Moore said that his early decision was in part to help focus on his senior season and take away the pressure of deciding on college during the school year.
“One of the reasons why I did commit now was so that I could focus 100 percent on winning a league championship,” Moore said. “That has been one of my goals the last four years. We VhRuOG GHfinLWHOy EH RnH RI the best teams in the league and we have a lot of pressure on us because everyone is coming back. We have a tough in and out-of-state schedule, so it’s going to be exciting to see how good we are.”
Fenerty expects big things from his team this year, but he expects even bigger thing from Moore once he graduates from high school and moves on to play at the college level.
“Penn State is a great school for Julian and this is a great opportunity for him,” Fenerty said. “I think he’ll do well there. He’s one of those kids that has improved leaps and bounds every single year. When you get into Big 10 basketball, they’re going to have to put on 30 pounds of muscle, but he’s already very skilled.
“And I think he did it the right way. He and his family had great conversations with the academic people at PSU and he feels comfortable with Coach Chambers and I think it’s a good spot for him. He cares about majoring in engineering as much as he cares about basketball. I think he’ll become a hot topic this year and he should have a big year for us.”
Moore said he is currently taking a few weeks off before getting back to the gym and the courts to prepare for his senior season. He had a very impressive summer session with his AAU program, We-R1, and even though Penn State has been under the microscope of the national media due to its current scandal, Moore said that none of that has affected his decision in the least bit.
“It didn’t affect me at all and I never thought twice about where I was going to play basketball,” Moore said. “That’s not my sport and that’s up to the NCAA. I’m just really looking to be part of the PSU family with the great tradition of the school, and I look forward to contributing to the tradition in the best way that I can.”