MC Hoops Standout Tristan Moore Joins Jackson Showboats
Mississippi College fans cheered basketball standouts like Tristan Moore as the Choctaws upset Delta State to wrap up the 2015-16 season.
A vocal MC student section created an electric atmosphere on February 25 at the A.E. Wood Coliseum. The Blue & Gold’s 71-66 triumph over its in-state rival from Cleveland included 11 points tallied by Moore. The speedy guard also dished out five assists as fans rocked the Golden Dome. MC’s Jonathan McGee of Raymond scored 29 points that evening to lead the way for the Choctaws.
Moore, 23, sees more such shining moments ahead on the hardwood. A May 2016 MC graduate, he hopes to keep his hoops dreams alive as a member of the semi-pro Jackson Showboats this fall.
“I look at this as an opportunity to take my talent to a higher level of competition,” says Moore, a Senatobia native.
The American Basketball Association team begins its sixth season in Jackson with a roster of driven players aspiring for bigger things. They’re seeking to get noticed by scouts and move up to the NBA’s D-League or join pro teams in Europe or Asia.
Jackson Showboats owner and general manager Glenn Worsley is delighted to welcome “big-time talent” like Moore to the lineup. “He definitely can play at a higher level. He has speed. He has quickness - a great first step.”
Worsley is often talking with hoops coaches stretching from Louisiana Tech to Tennessee-Martin from Louisiana-Monroe, to Mississippi schools in search of talent. Tristan was among the names that popped up. Undrafted by the NBA, the MC grad was an unrestricted free agent who refuses to quit playing his favorite Olympic sport.
Moore wasn’t just a star for two seasons at Mississippi College. Before coming to the Gulf South Conference school in Clinton, Tristan averaged 13.4 points per game at Northwest Mississippi Community College in his hometown of Senatobia.
MC Choctaws men’s basketball coach Don Lofton is impressed with Tristan Moore on and off the court.
“Tristan was a great player and leader for this team for two years,” Lofton said.
MC’s starting point guard, Moore served as the team’s quarterback on the floor. “He put people in the right position to make plays and was a dynamic scorer that could get to the rim,” Lofton added. “We saw a lot of growth out of Tristan on and off the floor over his two seasons. I’m excited to see what his future looks like.”
Wearing No. 24 for the Choctaws, the 5’ 11” guard dazzled fans with his ball handling skills, dunking abilities and leadership qualities. Tristan hit the ground running when he averaged 12.8 points per game during his junior year with the Choctaws.
He worked hard in the classroom at the same time. He thanks God for his success in the academic world as well as on the court. Receiving that MC diploma on May 7 was truly a special day as family and friends joined the Tate County native for graduation day at the coliseum.
Fast forward to the summer of 2016. Worsley liked what he saw out of Moore and other Jackson Showboats basketball players during the River City Summer League in Vicksburg.
The New Jersey native also believes in another former MC player.
Worsley hopes the “pick and pop guy,” will be a nice scorer, rebounder and defender in the Jackson Showboats lineup this year. A 1993 Syracuse University communications graduate, Worsley is referring to ex-Choctaws forward Rayner Fredrick. He also played summer ball in Vicksburg.
A native of Overland Park, Kansas, Fredrick played at William Jewell College and Grand Canyon University before joining the Choctaws in 2013-14. Fredrick, 24, was a business administration graduate at Mississippi College.
Semi-pro basketball, Worsley said, “is an exposure opportunity.” The Jackson Showboats have a network with pro teams with its former players going to leagues thousands of miles away - from Europe to the Far East.
The first game for the ABA team in metro Jackson is set for mid-November. The Jackson Showboats will also play at the Fed Ex Forum in Memphis prior to a Grizzlies game and before a Pelicans game at Smoothie King Arena in New Orleans during the upcoming NBA season. The Jackson Showboats will play a total of 15 games this season against teams in such cities as Mobile, Alabama, Jacksonville, Florida, Orlando, and Bowling Green, Kentucky.
For more information, contact Grant Worsley at showboatsgm@rocketmail.com or 769-203-2108.
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