It didn’t take long for Cleveland State to address the hole in its frontcourt left by the departure of Faith Burch, as the Vikings received a transfer commitment from former Seattle University forward Mya Moore on April 3rd.
Though the Redhawks have struggled throughout Moore’s two years in the Pacific Northwest, including a pair of six-win campaigns and consecutive sub-300 finishes on most major ranking metrics, very little of that should be placed at the feet of the six-foot Milwaukee native. In fact, Moore was SU’s leader in four major statistical categories during the recently-completed season, including points (12.7), rebounds (7.6), steals (1.6) and blocks (1.4). As a freshman in 2022-23, she was an every-game starter who averaged 6.9 points and 4.0 rebounds in 16.2 minutes per game.
It doesn’t take a particularly long time to find clips showing how Moore complied those stats: by being a demon on the low block. She shot 48.9 percent from the floor last year, while fighting through enough contact to attempt 4.9 free throws per contest, a number that ranked among the top 120 players nationally. Moore’s efficiency and per-40 numbers outpace her traditional averages, leading to the idea that she still has plenty of upside.
Coincidentally, one of the best games of her career so far came against the Vikings of Portland State this past November 25th, when Moore established a career high of 28 points (on 11-for-15 shooting), while adding six rebounds, four assists and four steals. She has posted six career double-doubles, all in 2023-24, a count that includes a late-season effort of 25 points and 12 rebounds in a win over UTRGV on February 24th. Two weeks later, she followed up with 22 points and 13 rebounds as the Redhawks closed their schedule against Tarleton State.
At Pius XI High School, Moore earned team MVP, all-conference and all-state honors while helping the Lady Popes to three straight regional championships, as well as a sectional crown.
Notably, she also played with current Cleveland Stater Jordana Reisma on the summer AAU circuits, as both were members of the Wisconsin Lady Shooters. Each half of the dominant frontcourt tandem of once-and-future teammates placed in the top 20 of Prep Girls Hoops’ final ranking of 2022-graduate Wisconsin prospects, with Moore 11th and Reisma 18th. Those PGH scouting reports are two years old at this point, though they still seem to fit pretty well.
“Moore shot an incredible 63% from the field a season ago,” according to one written during her senior season at Pius XI. “Her offensive efficiency when she got position was impressive. Moore is also a player who is willing to make hustle plays and dive on the floor.”
“Moore plays as hard as she can all the time and does everything you’d want a post to do. She can score efficiently with her back to the basket, rebounds as well as anyone, passes and hits cutters off of her post-ups, plays passing lanes, and she blocks shots.”
The rising junior’s arrival is a rare piece of news in what’s expected to be an unusually quiet offseason for the Vikings. One major order of business for Chris Kielsmeier is finding an assistant coach to replace Melissa Jackson, now the head coach at Youngstown State, of course.
However, beyond that, he plans to bring back the bulk of the roster that won CSU’s first-ever Horizon League regular season championship for 2024-25, save for Burch, Carmen Villalobos and Brooklynn Fort-Davis, as the latter two have exhausted their eligibility. In their places will be Moore, as well as incoming freshmen Sarah Hurley and Brenae Jones-Grant.
