Villanova Basketball 2019-20 Player Preview: Justin Moore

VUHoops continues our coverage of Villanova Basketball’s 100th Season by previewing the entire Wildcat roster. Be sure to check out all of our coverage including Ten Top 10’s, event coverage, and schedule previews. Check back over the coming weeks as we begin the celebration of 100 years of Villanova Basketball!

Justin Moore

Hometown: Fort Washington. Md.
High School: DeMatha Catholic
Height: 6-4
Weight: 210

Player Preview:

The second commit in Jay Wright’s recruiting class of 2019, Moore brings a number of different elements to the backcourt. He played more of a combo guard role in high school at DeMatha Catholic, but with a younger roster and Bryan Antoine still recovering from shoulder surgery, it appears that Wright will be looking to him to contribute early, especially at the point guard position.

While he’s still raw, the transition seems to be going smoothly so far. Villanova’s junior trio deemed him as a player to watch for that can possibly surprise some people. At Big East Media Day last Thursday, Wright said that the 6-foot-4 freshman “has fit in quickly” and that with “Bryan not being there, Justin is going to play major minutes.”

Moore was rated a four-star prospect, according to 247 Sports, coming out of high school. He sustained an ACL injury his sophomore year, but that didn’t scare away the numerous recruiters or stop Moore from bouncing back strong.

Upon his recovery, Moore didn’t seem to lose his stride, impressing with his ability to knock down perimeter shots, attack the basket, and break down opposing defenses with firm decision-making and the ability to read the floor. He has the tools to be a complete player, with a scrappy outlook on defense and the ability to seemingly do it all on offense.

As our Brendan Reilly wrote in his Blue-White Scrimmage observations: “The initial results looked pretty good, if not a little raw. Moore is a capable point guard who can penetrate of the dribble, create for himself and his teammates, and has great court vision. His handle isn’t elite, but that will improve as he plays more with the ball in his hands, same with his passing. But he’s already there as a scorer, and like most Villanova guards is a threat inside and out. He looked especially good in transition, both offensively and defensively.”

He continued, “Speaking of defense, he’s a scrappy defender that is good at disrupting lanes and playing up on the ball without losing his man. You can tell he has next level toughness and should develop into a guy that can get under his opponents skin. He still made his fair share of rookie mistakes, but the talent is apparent and he just needs time to hone his skills. He’ll certainly be able to handle the backup point guard position this year.”

He looked good against his teammates, and we’ll get a pre-season glimpse of him against USC. With Collin Gillespie out with a broken nose, Antoine sidelined, Moore was tabbed a starter for the exhibition game later this week.

Best Case Scenario: Moore continues his smooth transition to the collegiate level, stepping up to fill in during Bryan Antoine’s absence and proving to be a reliable contributor as a freshman. Moore is able to provide those much-needed minutes at point guard, as he evolves and solidifies his play on that front. Aside from that, he’s able to get the defensive concepts down and is a disruptive player on that end of the court. Jay Wright needs the young guys to step up, and Moore is able to answer that call.

Worst Case Scenario: Moore’s pre-season praise doesn’t translate once the real action begins and the regular season tips off. While all freshmen can expectedly go through growing pains, Moore struggles and isn’t able to truly provide those secondary playmaker minutes. Although he would remain a freshman playing key minutes in the rotation, questions surrounding the point guard position still stand.

The Wisdom of the Crowds

We are pleased to bring back our Wisdom of Crowds experiment for the 2019-20 season. In this series, we ask that you consider the points covered in our player preview to supplement your own personal insights and instincts to predict the points per game each scholarship player on the roster we score in the upcoming season.