With the season over for Arkansas men’s basketball, many Razorback fans are eagerly waiting so see if star freshman, Moses Moody, will declare for the NBA draft.
The Little Rock native would be the first one-and-done in Arkansas history if he does leave for the pros. And Jimmy Dykes, a former NBA scout for the Seattle Supersonics, believes Moody has the attitude required for the next level.
“He is a phenomenal kid. And the NBA scouts I have spoken over the course of the year, they all know that he is a phenomenal person. And that’s really big in that league right now and that’s in his favor going forward, in terms of being coachable, being tough, having a great work ethic, never having a bad attitude, having a plan in life, not having any issues of the court. That’s a really big deal and Moses checks all those boxes,” said Dykes, who was a former head coach for the Razorbacks women’s basketball team.
Although Moody did not have the performances in the NCAA tournament that many expected, Dykes doesn’t believe it will effect his draft stock.
“He did not have the best March and some NBA scouts will put more emphasis on the last three or four games than other NBA scouts did. A lot of NBA scouts will say, ‘well I’m going to look at that whole body of work and he was tremendous,’” said Dykes. “Three out of his last four games prior to the NCAA (tournament), he had 28-point nights. So are you going to look at that as an NBA scout? Or are you going to look at, ‘yeah but that NCAA tournament.’ There were some moments there where you were really not sure. I think Moses is surrounded by really good people who will get really good information and make the best decision for him.”
Moody can declare for the NBA Draft and test the waters of his prospects around the league. If a player does not hire an agent when declaring from the NBA Draft, NCAA rules allow a player to return to school for another season.
If Moody does hire representation, he cannot return to Arkansas. But Dykes still thinks Moody is a top player in this year’s upcoming draft in June.
“(He’s) show the recruiting world out that you can go to Arkansas and be a one-and-done guy and a potential lottery pick. I think that’s where he’s still going to land. There’s some question marks now about, is he going to slide out of the lottery?’ I’m not sure about that. So much goes into that decision between now and the summer.”
Either way the chips end up falling, Dykes knows Moody gave so much to Arkansas is such a short time.
“When you grow up in this state and you wear that Razorback uniform, it means a little something extra to you and I know it does to Moses. He’s a phenomenal kid on and off the floor,” said Dykes. “There’s a lot of good things that mosses did for the team this year, there’s a lot of good things that he did for the program going forward because of the example that he set for younger players that might want to be a razorback one day.”