Brian Moore Jr. is an American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

player for the

Norfolk State Spartans The Norfolk State Spartans refer to the 14 intercollegiate sports teams representing Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Virginia, in intercollegiate athletics, including men and women's basketball, cross country, tennis and track and field; wo ...

. He previously played at

Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College (NEO) is a Public college, public community college in Miami, Oklahoma. Established as the Miami School of Mines in 1919, NEO has an enrollment of approximately two thousand students. The Golden Norsemen is th ...

and for the

Murray State Racers The Murray State Racers are the athletic teams that represent Murray State University (MSU), located in Murray, Kentucky, United States, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks (for football, the Football Championship ...

. He was the 2025 recipient of the

Lou Henson Award The Lou Henson Award is an award given annually by Collegeinsider.com to the most outstanding mid-major men's college basketball player in NCAA Division I competition. The award, established in 2010, is named for esteemed men's college basketball ...

as the best

mid-major Mid-major conferences in American college sports at the NCAA Division I level are athletic conferences that are not among the power conferences. The grouping is most commonly used in men's college basketball to describe conferences outside of the ...

player.

Early life

Moore is from

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

, New York. His grandmother helped raise him but died due to cancer when Moore was age 11. According to the ''

Times Herald-Record The ''Times Herald-Record'', often referred to as ''The Record'' or ''Middletown Record'' in its coverage area, is an American daily newspaper published in Middletown, New York, covering the northwest suburbs of New York City. It covers Orange, ...

'', after receiving news of his grandmother's death, Moore "grabbed a basketball and headed to St. Nicholas Park. He took shots and cried, not hearing the voice of an AAU coach who was passing by. The coach comforted Moore. They talked about his grandmother’s positive influence over him. The coach invited Moore to try out for her AAU team and he received his introduction to organized basketball." Moore attended Kingston High School where he was a top basketball player. As a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

, he was named the Varsity 845 player of the year and the ''

Daily Freeman The Daily Freeman, published in Kingston, New York, serves as the primary morning newspaper for Ulster County, as well as Greene County, Columbia County and Dutchess County. Established in 1871 under the moniker "Rondout Daily Freeman," the ...

'' boys basketball player of the year after averaging 27.4 points. He concluded his stint at Kingston as their fourth-leading scorer all-time with 1,227 points. Coming out of high school, the only interested

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

school was

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

, but Moore did not academically qualify. He thus played a season at Believe Prep in

Rock Hill, South Carolina Rock Hill is the most populous city in York County, South Carolina, United States, and the List of municipalities in South Carolina, 5th-most populous city in the state. It is also the 4th-most populous city of the Charlotte metropolitan area, be ...

, before deciding to begin his

career at

College career

Moore played two seasons at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, being named a

junior college A junior college is a type of post-secondary institution that offers vocational and academic training that is designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations or support roles in professions such as engineering, a ...

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

and scoring 1,064 points. He then transferred to the

, where he played two seasons mostly coming off the bench. He averaged 8.2 points for Murray State during the 2022–23 season. Then in 2023–24, he started 10 games and averaged 9.2 points while being named to the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...

(MVC) All-Bench team, before entering the

NCAA transfer portal The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) application, database, and compliance tool created to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member institutions. It is i ...

at the end of the season. He transferred to the

for the 2024–25 season. Moore became a top player at Norfolk State, helping the team win the

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC ) is a List of NCAA conferences, collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and the Mid-A ...

(MEAC) championship game while advancing to the NCAA Tournament. He averaged 18.1 points and shot 54.5%, being the only

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

nationally to record an average of 18.0 points while shooting over 54.0%. He was named the MEAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player, first-team All-

HBCU Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of serving African Americans. Most are in the Southern U ...

All-American, and the winner of the

as the best

player.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore Jr., Brian Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Basketball players from Manhattan Guards (basketball) Murray State Racers men's basketball players Norfolk State Spartans men's basketball players Northeastern Oklahoma A&M Golden Norsemen basketball players People from Harlem