Moore putting in mileage chasing WNBA dream
MOORE — Aaliyah Moore strutted to center court ready to have her dreams broadcasted to her classmates.
The message reverberated from the speakers inside the Moore High School gym earlier this month as the junior forward stood alongside the homecoming court, nearly an hour after scoring 28 points in another Lions victory.
Moore's goal is to make it to the WNBA.
The students stood and cheered, granting their approval for the basketball stand out. For most high school athletes, playing professionally is only a dream, but for Aaliyah Moore, it's a dream that looks more within reach after every season.
“I've had that dream since middle school and that' s actually when I got my first (college) offer,” said Moore, who received an offer in eighth grade from Oklahoma State.
It would be the first of many. She now has dozens
and is ranked as the No. 7 overall recruit nationally in the 2021 class by ESPN's HoopGurlz.
“And so I was like `I really need to focus' because I would love to go play college basketball,” Moore said. “I could be like Diana Taurasi or (Elena) Delle Donne and I was like `oh yeah' WNBA for sure.”
But it was going to require a long journey. To help develop her daughter's game, Lashowann Smith first traveled to Houston several years ago so Moore could play AAU basketball with CyFair Elite, a program known for sending players to Team USA.
Moore's talent stood out. It was suggested to her mother that Moore try out for the national under17 World Cup team in 2018.
Off to Colorado Springs they went.
Even though Aaliyah, then 15, was two years younger than most athletes there, she made it all the way to the final 40 players
before getting cut.
“I actually had a feeling because the session before that I felt like I didn't do very well,” Moore said of the grueling 150-minute sessions over three days. “I could feel it wearing down my body and I was like, `yeah I didn't come prepared or as mentally tough as I should have been and in the best shape.' I started crying, but at the end of the day I said, `I'm coming back next year and I'm going to make the team.'”
Moore knew she needed to find a way to stand out. To do that, she made an effort to work on her shot, ball handling and defense. The 6- foot -3 forward wanted to prove all the stereotypes against taller players wrong.
So Smith sought out an old friend for help in Takesha Watson, a former Millwood standout who is an assistant coach at Barton College in Kansas. With Watson being a former professional point guard, Moore worked on her ball handling and shot release.
Moore then worked on building her body at Knight Sports Performance in Edmond, lifting weights,
doing speed and agility drills and learning bodyrecovery tactics.
The next year, she tried out for Team USA again, this time the extensive workouts came much easier f or her. Finally standing out, she made the U16 National Team last May.
“The feeling I got after I was told I made the team was probably the best feeling of my life. A weight was lifted off my shoulders,” Aaliyah said. “I was crying again, but it was happy tears. I was like `Momma I did it!' I was so happy, but it was just a lot of emotions. I was scared, I was fearless and also fearful at the same time.”
The next stop on the journey took Moore to Puerto Aysen, Chile. There she helped lead Team USA to the gold medal in the 2019 FIBA Americas U16 Championship. She started in all six games and averaged 7.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists as USA went undefeated.
Back at Moore High School, coach Brent Hodges has noticed a difference in Aaliyah's game.
“Her leadership, her vocalness, her work habits, her work ethic, they were never bad, but it just rose to an elite level through that experience,” Hodges said. “And I think it gave her just a better understanding of the game and IQ.”
It's worked out for the Class 6 A fifth-ranked Lions (13-3) this season as well.
A aliyah joined the school's 1,000-point club earlier this month and led the Lions to their second consecutive John Nobles Tournament championship. Thousands of miles into this basketball journey, she knows there's still a long road ahead to reach her dream of the WNBA. She wouldn't have it any other way.
“It's a lot of stress, you could say, but at the same time, I don't want it any other way,” Aaliyah said. “I'm blessed and I thank God for giving me this ability because it could be where I wasn't getting recruited where I didn't hit 1,000 points, it could be the total opposite. So I definitely don't take it for granted even though it can be a lot, I love it. It's what I do, it's my life.”