Cal PG Charlie Moore picks Kansas

By Matt Tait     Apr 25, 2017

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California guard Charlie Moore, left, drives past Arizona State guard Tra Holder (0) to score during the first half of an NCAA basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017, in Tempe, Ariz.

In past years, the Memphis-to-Kansas pipeline may have delivered Tarik Black and Lagerald Vick, but that seems tame compared with what’s going on today.

According to Evan Daniels of Scout.com, KU coach Bill Self has secured a commitment from California transfer Charlie Moore, a 5-foot-11, former four-star prospect in the Class of 2016, who averaged 12 points and 3.5 assists per game for the Bears last season.

Moore played in 34 games during his lone season with Cal and averaged 29 minutes per game during his freshman season.

Moore confirmed the news shortly after Daniels’ report via a Twitter post of him in a KU jersey — wearing No. 13 — with the words “New Chapter” written below the photo. Shortly thereafter, KU coach Bill Self offered his thoughts on the news via press release, signifying that the transfer was official.

“Charlie started at Cal this past year and averaged just over 12 points a game as a true freshman,” Self said. “We think after a year sitting out that he’ll be much like (KU sophomore transfer) Malik Newman will be for us this year, ready to make a serious contribution to our program.”

Before heading to Cal, Moore, a Chicago native, had committed to Memphis and then-head coach Josh Pastner. Once Pastner left for Georgia Tech, Moore elected to head west and now is looking to return closer to home to be closer to his ailing father in the Windy City.

Called by Rivals.com during his recruitment, “a dynamo who can score,” Moore carries a toughness typical of Chicago prospects and is known for his explosive abilities and on-court personality.

He joins former Memphis standouts Dedric and K.J. Lawson in electing to transfer to Kansas, which, one year from now, will give Self three players who at one time seemed to be well on their way to starting together for the Tigers in Tennessee.

“We’re excited about all three of these prospects,” Self said in the release. “They’ve all had successful starts to their college careers at different institutions. Certainly, the transfers became so attractive to us, in large part because we will have guys in our program who will be ready to contribute in a year. We could lose multiple guys next year, so I think this is a great fit for the University of Kansas. Not only will we get better down the road but this will certainly make us better in practice next year.”

With the grant-in-aid agreements signed by all three players, Self was able to comment for the first time on the Lawson brothers, whose decision to transfer away from their native Memphis was highly publicized a couple of weeks ago.

In 2016-17, Dedric Lawson (6-foot-9, 236 pounds) led the AAC and was 19th nationally in rebound average at 9.9 boards per game. His 19.2 scoring average was second in the conference and he was fifth in the league with a 46.1 field goal percentage. Dedric recorded 19 double-doubles on the season which was 11th nationally and tops in the AAC. Dedric scored a career-high 35 points against Iowa on Nov. 26, 2016.

“Averaging almost 20 points and 10 rebounds last year, Dedric is one of the best big-man prospects in the country,” Self said. “He was a double-double machine last year.”

Self also said Dedric’s brother, K.J. Lawson, who averaged 12 points and 8 rebounds as a small forward at Memphis last season, would add a lot to KU in the coming seasons.

“He’s a very competitive athlete who we feel will add to our culture here,” Self said.

https://twitter.com/CharlieM2_/status/856949896384888832

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.