Texas Tech basketball: True freshman Khavon Moore finally makes debut

In Wednesday night’s game against Iowa State, highly-touted true freshman forward Khavon Moore finally made his Texas Tech basketball debut.

The highest-rated high school basketball recruit to ever enroll at Texas Tech finally got into a game on Wednesday night exactly one year to the date after suffering a gruesome injury.  True freshman forward Khavon Moore played two minutes in the first half against Iowa State accumulating no stats.  But regardless, it was exciting for Red Raider fans to simply see him on the court at all.

The 6-foot-8 product of Macon, Georgia was the No. 54 player in the country last year according to 247Sports.com.  But he had yet to play this year as he recovered from a severe injury suffered exactly one year to the date of his Red Raider debut.

On January 16, 2018, Moore was hospitalized after breaking his leg on the final play of a win over his high school team’s biggest rival.  In recent interviews, Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard had compared the injury to one suffered by NBA All-Star Paul George in 2014.  George also missed almost exactly one year before returning the floor and many speculated that Moore might redshirt this season.  But apparently plans have changed.

The reasoning for inserting Moore into the rotation this late in the season could revolve around another injury for the Red Raiders.  Sophomore guard DeShawn Corprew did not play Wednesday after suffering a sprained calf in the first half of Saturday’s win over Texas.

If Corprew is out for an extended period of time, Beard would be left with only seven players in his regular rotation which may have been the impetus for getting Moore some run to knock the rust off.  But Red Raider fans must not expect Moore to be a force immediately.

It is tough enough for any player to adjust to the collegiate game as it is but doing so against Big 12 opponents after a year of rehab is quite the task.  After the game, Beard talked about what he expects the freshman’s role to be.

"He told the members of the media, including Carlos Silva Jr. of the Avalanche-Journal  he expects Moore to “Contribute, to help us win.”"

So how can Moore contribute to the Red Raiders this year?  At 6-foot-8, his game is more of a point-forward who will be able to handle the basketball and create plays for his teammates.

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He is a capable scorer (he put up over 2,000 points in his high school career) but it might take him some time to find his shot and rediscover his offensive game.  But Tech needs a player capable of coming off the bench and creating opportunities for other players.

Right now, Jarrett Culver is the team’s best creator and one of the only Red Raiders that can consistently create shots for himself and others off the dribble.  Therefore, the burden on the team’s leading scorer…and assist man…and rebounder is rather heavy.

That was on display last night when Culver was the only Red Raider that was able to get his own shot down the stretch against Iowa State.  As a result, he was swarmed virtually every time he touched the ball and was forced into a 7-21 shooting effort.

The hope is that Moore can utilize his size to create matchup problems off the dribble and set up his teammates with open looks.  Tech has a number of players like Matt Mooney, Davide Moretti and Brandone Francis who are all capable of knocking down spot-up 3-pointers but who can struggle at times to get their own open looks.

Moore has the size and skill to beat defenders off the bounce and if his surgically-repaired leg allows him to move as he would like, he could become a facilitator which would greatly help a Texas Tech team that has not reached the 70-point mark in Big 12 play. Certainly, Moore will be asked to perform only in spurts as he works his way back into game shape.

But Tech needs another player to provide quality minutes off the bench.  Against the Cyclones, five Red Raiders played at least 27 minutes with Culver and Moretti logging 39 and 38 respectively.

It would be ideal if Moore could eventually prove to be capable of facilitating the offense in a manner similar to Culver which would allow the sophomore to have a few extra minutes of rest each game.  As we saw last night when Culver left a number of shots in the paint short and against Duke in New York when he went off for 25 points, the Lubbock native has understandably become fatigued down the stretch as he attempts to put his team on his back.

Eventually, Khavon Moore could be one of the stars of the team in his own right.  But for now, if he can provide the Red Raiders with some quality minutes and help his teammates get better looks, he will have done his part for this year.