The Tigers began landing impact freshmen in 2014 with Avry Holmes joining from the University of San Francisco. This marked a turning of the tide. Clemson had been losing players via transfer, but not winning any impact players on the transfer market. After Holmes came Marquise Reed, Elijah Thomas, and Shelton Mitchell. Thomas and Mitchell were highly-touted recruits out of high school.
Now, Coach Brownell and the Tigers have landed another former highly-touted recruit via transfer. Khavon Moore has decided to transfer from Texas Tech to Clemson.
New Beginnings... pic.twitter.com/wchG1hWxwU
— _shelovesKD (@KhavonMoore) May 16, 2019
Moore was a four-star recruit (as rated by both ESPN and Rivals) out of Macon, GA who received 24 offers out of high school and chose Texas Tech.
Moore broke his leg in his senior year and missed the first two months of the season. He returned and played in one game and then was shutdown to pursue a medical redshirt (he will have four years of eligibility remaining if he receives the redshirt). After being shut down, he tweeted his displeasure saying he was 100% healthy before promptly deleting the tweet. Although seemingly unhappy with his situation, that’s the not primary reason he cites for his transfer from the National Championship runner-up Red Raiders:
— _shelovesKD (@KhavonMoore) April 19, 2019
With this situation, it’s possible the NCAA could allow him to play for Clemson immediately. That’s just speculation of course as the NCAA is unpredictable in these sorts of situations.
As a senior in high school, Moore averaged 22 points and nearly 9 rebounds per game. He is 6’8” and fills a major need at forward for the Tigers. If ruled eligible for this season, he could immediately vye for playing time at SF and for reserve minutes behind PF Aamir Simms (where there is little depth).
This is a major add for Clemson basketball. If Khavon Moore is granted a waiver to play immediately, next season suddenly doesn’t look so bleak. Moreover, 2020-21 is starting to show some real upside with Moore and Nick Honor (via transfer Fordham) playing alongside two seniors - C Jonathan Baehre and PF Aamir Simms - in the post and senior combo guard Clyde Trapp.