The Messenger

The leading rebounder in Kentucky high school basketball last season has found a collegiate home.

Madisonville-North Hopkins standout Darnell Moore signed with Southwestern Illinois College on Wednesday. Moore averaged 16 points and just under 15 rebounds per game during his senior year for the Maroons.

Moore said the decision to sign with SWIC came down to a number of factors.

“I was looking at the area, education, the coach’s relationship with the players and what kind of team they had,” said Moore. “A couple of weeks ago I decided I wanted to go through junior college.”

That’s a move that former Maroons’ coach James Davis feels will allow Moore to blossom even more in his basketball career.

“It’s a great thing for Darnell because now he can step outside as a 6-foot-6 player, get his ball-handling down in the next couple of years and sign with another university,” said Davis. “Southwestern really got a steal.”

Blue Storm coach Jay Harrington spoke of working on physical aspects of the game during his first year at Southwestern Illinois.

“We want to get him bigger and stronger and move him out on the perimeter,” said Harrington. “We’ll have three or four days a week we’ll work with him on individual skills, and we’ll be working with him getting a lot stronger.”

But that doesn’t mean Moore will always be on the perimeter, as Harrington noted.

“We do want to keep him inside because of his great rebounding ability,” he said.

When asked what made him such a good rebounder, Moore displayed a quick wit.

“My teammates shooting the ball,” he said with a laugh.

For Moore, it was a combination of working in practice and having a natural feel for where the ball will go when it comes off the rim.

“We all have roles,” said Moore. “I like to play defense and rebound. A second-chance shot is just as good as the first shot.”

Moore credits a number of people with helping him improve both on and off the court, including his mother and Davis.

“Coach D is a good man, and it rubbed off on me,” said Moore. “He taught me to always work hard, never give up and give it my all until the final horn.”

As for his mother, Moore says it wasn’t easy raising four boys, of which he is the youngest.

“She’s a strong woman,” he said. “We had four boys, all of us always fighting and she stuck through that. She’s a loving person, a good person and has always shown me love.”

Moore also did not want to leave out his teammates, including rising junior Jon Hood, who he said had helped him every day through practices and games.

Though he’s clearly excited about the opportunity to play college basketball, Moore also knows to keep his eye on the big picture off the court, and is preparing that way.

“I’m looking into going into secondary education, and I’d like to be a coach,” he said. “If that falls in, that’d be pretty good. I’d like to go to the NBA, and if it happens, it happens, but I’m already working on a back-up plan.”

For Moore, getting into coaching would be a great achievement and allow him to have a positive effect on a younger generation, something he desires to do.

“I’d like to come back and help kids do better,” said Moore. “If I can help them better themselves, that would make me feel good.”

Right now, however, Moore will continue to better himself as a collegiate athlete. Harrington is one that can’t wait to see Moore on the court in the fall.

“Darnell fits the mold of every kind of a kid we really want here,” he said. “He’s not only a really good basketball player, but he’s a good student and really a good citizen.

“We just don’t care about them being good basketball players, they have to have the full package, and Darnell fits that full package that we’re looking for.”