Will Jayhawks’ Shakeel Moore be able to play vs. NC State? Here’s what Self said
Kansas Jayhawks guard Shakeel Moore, who has played a total of 11 minutes over two games this season, has returned to practice and conceivably could play in Saturday’s game against North Carolina State, KU coach Bill Self said Thursday.
Moore, a senior, has been sidelined with lingering pain in his surgically repaired foot. KU plays host to NC State at 2:15 p.m. Saturday inside Allen Fieldhouse in a game that will be broadcast on ESPN.
“He’s practiced the last two days (and) looked good.” Self said. “I don’t know what his availability will be Saturday yet, but I’m hopeful that he could be available to us.
“Putting a guy out there that hadn’t played basically in eight weeks against a really good team like North Carolina State, I don’t know if that’s the direction that we positively want to go. But he’s trending in a way that hopefully he’s going to be with us and be full speed real soon.”
Moore, a 6-foot-1 point guard/shooting guard from Greensboro, North Carolina, began his college career at NC State and then then played the last three seasons at Mississippi State.
He transferred to KU and then broke a bone in his foot during the offseason. He had surgery in early September and missed two months of practice.
Moore was unable to play in KU’s exhibition games and the first three games of the regular season. He played five minutes against Oakland and six against UNC-Wilmington.
He’s missed the Jayhawks’ last four games because of soreness in the foot.
Asked about getting a rusty Moore some minutes with just two games remaining before the start of Big 12 play, Self said: “I’m not worried about that with him. Right now we just want to get him practice minutes.
“To me, having him healthy for five days in a row or nine out of 10 days where he doesn’t get sore is more important than actually getting him into a game. And trust me, we’re not going to play him just to get him in a game right now.”
Before KU’s Nov. 26 game against Duke in Las Vegas, Self said: “He says it’s just too painful right now and he just can’t move — which I believe. There’s no doubt about that. Structurally it’s OK. But it just hasn’t responded to the pounding yet that we hope it can.”
Self said at the time he hoped Moore would be “back before Christmas.”
Self has said that Moore “could be our best on-ball defender. He’s not a scorer, but he can make a shot.”
Moore scored two points in five minutes against Oakland and two more in his six minutes against UNCW. He averaged 8.0 points a game on 47% shooting (28-of-78 from 3-point range) last season at MSU. He had 58 assists to 36 turnovers with 28 steals.
Moore scored in double figures 13 times a year ago, including a season-high 16 points against Murray State on Dec. 13, 2023. As a junior, he was named to the 15-player 2022-23 Naismith defensive player of the year watch list. He averaged 9.8 points and 2.3 assists as a junior.
Moore averaged 8.8 points and started 29 of 34 games during his sophomore year at Mississippi State and 6.8 points in his one season at NC State (2020-21).
He played high school basketball at Piedmont Classical in Browns Summit, N.C.. for three seasons and Moravian Prep in Hickory, N.C. for his senior campaign. While at Piedmont Classical, Moore was part of three consecutive state-championship teams (2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19).
KU enters Saturday’s game with a 7-2 record and No. 10 national ranking. Unranked NC State, a Final Four team last season, is 7-3 (1-0 ACC).
NC State beat Florida State 84-74 in overtime Dec. 7.
This story was originally published December 12, 2024 at 3:54 PM with the headline "Will Jayhawks’ Shakeel Moore be able to play vs. NC State? Here’s what Self said."
