Wendell Moore Jr. is moving on.
Duke’s junior guard, whose upperclassman leadership and talent helped push the Blue Devils into the Final Four this past season, has announced that he’s foregoing his college basketball eligibility and is entering the 2022 NBA Draft.
Moore made the announcement Thursday after a stellar season — one in which he recorded a team-high 34 minutes a game and averaged 13.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. His play earned him second-team All-ACC and ACC All-Defensive Team honors, among other end-of-season accolades.
On ESPN’s “Best Available” Draft Board on Wednesday, Moore was considered an early-second round pick (34th overall out of 60 selections). He’s projected by the site to be the fifth player from Duke taken in this year’s draft — behind Paolo Banchero, AJ Griffin, Mark Williams and Trevor Keels. Griffin and Keels have yet to officially declare for the draft.
Other draft boards have him going late in the first and early in the second, too. The Ringer’s NBA Draft Board has him going 29th; NBADraft.net has him going 34th; and CBS Sports has him going 27th.
The Charlotte native and Cox Mill High School alum’s draft value has grown in his time at Duke. His biggest improvements? He’s gotten stronger and more athletic. He’s become a legitimate outside scoring threat, improving his 3-point shooting from 21% as a freshman and 30% as a sophomore to 41% as a junior.
And it’s clear he’s developed a unique mental toughness — a toughness that head coach Mike Krzyzewski praised in October and that was necessary throughout a challenging season, when the team was under a microscope because of Coach K’s imminent departure.
“It’s always been mentality with me,” Moore said before the 2021-22 season. “The biggest thing was changing my mentality, making it stronger every time I get out there on the court. I really just need to play where I never feel weak on the court. I know my teammates always believe in me and I think now I’m really starting to believe in myself the way everybody else does.”
In his career, Moore started 68 of 88 games played and will finish with an all-time record of 70-24.
The deadline for players to enter their names into the 2022 NBA Draft pool is April 24. They can withdraw their names later (by June 1) if they decide to return to college.
The NBA draft combine is planned for May 16, and the NBA draft itself is scheduled for June 23.
