Moody officially signs as Hogs’ highly-rated class nearing completion

FAYETTEVILLE — Moses Moody has signed a national letter of intent, according to an announcement from Arkansas coach Eric Musselman on Friday and a class ranked No. 6 in the nation nears completion.

The composite ranking from 247Sports.com has the Razorbacks ranked there, which is still fourth in the SEC behind Kentucky, Tennessee and LSU.

In the average rating per player, though, the Hogs rank only behind the Wildcats.

Moody, a Little Rock native attended Montverde (Fla.) Academy, is rated 38th on the ESPN Top 100 and 247Sports.com puts him as the eighth-best shooting guard in the nation.

He is also the highest-rated player to sign with Arkansas since five-star (16th nationally) Bobby Portis in 2013.

K.K. Robinson is the only commitment that hasn’t signed, having announced previously he plants to sign Saturday. He is ranked the No. 71 prospect in the country and the No. 12 point guard.

“Moses is such a complete player and fits our stylistic play so well with his versatility,” Musselman said. “He has the ability to score inside, off the bounce and from deep 3-point range. He can create shots for himself as well as create open shots for his teammates.

“He is an excellent rebounder for his position. He is a very good defender with his length and can guard a point guard, an off guard or a small forward.

“Moses has great maturity for an incoming freshman. It’s not often you can look at a freshman and feel like he has leadership qualities. He is an incredible teammate who is incredibly unselfish.”

Last November, Moody was one of 50 players in the nation named to the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s watch list for the 2020 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy, given to the top high school player.

At season’s end, Moody was tabbed MaxPreps All-American Honorable Mention, one of the top 50 players in America to be recognized along with three other of his Montverde teammates.

In addition to his ESPN ranking, 247Sports Composite tabs Moody at No. 45 nationally and Rivals has him rated as the 54th best player in the country as well as the 13th-best small forward.

Moody is the top-ranked player from the state of Arkansas by ESPN and the seventh-rated player playing in Florida by 247Sports.

This past season, Moody averaged 11.6 points 3.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists while shooting 60.1 percent from the field, 46.9 percent from 3-point range and 82.1 percent from the free throw line this season.

Moody helped Montverde earn the nation’s consensus No. 1 ranking, going 25-0 in the regular season.

Moody, a two-year starter at Montverde, led Brad Beal Elite in scoring (17.7 ppg) on the 2019 Nike EYBL (Elite Youth Basketball League) circuit and was named All-EYBL honorable mention.

He was selected to be a part of Pangos All American Camp, NBPA Top 100 Camp, Team USA U17 training camp and USA Basketball Junior minicamp.

Prior to playing his final two seasons at Montverde, Moody was named to the Arkansas 7A All-State team in 2018 as he led North Little Rock to a state championship (over Isaiah Joe’s Fort Smith Northside team) and was named the tournament MVP.

He was additionally named to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Underclassman team as he averaged 18.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 2.1 stats and 1.4 blocks as a sophomore.

As a freshman, Moody played on a Little Rock Parkview team (with Razorbacks student assistant Khalil Garland) that advanced to the state championship.

Information from Razorback Sports Communications is included in this story.