Why incoming KU Jayhawks hoops transfer ‘Shak’ Moore is known as a stellar defender

Former Mississippi State combo guard Shakeel “Shak” Moore, who announced plans to transfer to Kansas for a super-senior season on Wednesday, has been known more for his defense than offense during his first four years of college.

The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Greensboro, North Carolina native arrives at KU as the Bulldogs’ fourth-leading scorer off last year’s NCAA Tournament team, at 7.9 points a game (on 46.8% shooting; 36.3% from 3-point range). He scored a season-best 16 points on 5-for-5 shooting against Murray State on Dec. 13 and was 4-of-4 from 3-point range, good for 14 points, on Feb. 10 against Missouri.

A starter in 22 of 33 games, Moore had somewhat of a reputation as a defensive whiz. He earned a spot on the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year watch list as a junior — a season in which he was subject of a phenomhoopreport.com article entitled, “Is Shakeel Moore the best defender in college basketball?”

“He’s a pest on defense,” Mississippi State coach Chris Jans told the SEC Network, as reported by Cdispatch.com. “He gets his hands on a lot of balls.”

During his senior campaign, the 23-year-old Moore, who announced his transfer to KU just a few hours after KU revealed that guard Elmarko Jackson would miss the entire 2024-25 season because of a knee injury, had multiple steals in eight games. He finished the season with 28 steals, fifth-most on a squad that held opponents to 69.1 points per game.

Moore had multiple steals in 41 of 99 career games with the Bulldogs. He played at Mississippi State for three seasons after spending his freshman year at North Carolina State.

Of Moore’s offense, MSU coach Jans told SEC Network late in his junior year: “I tell him to shoot that thing, man. Shak’s got a killer shot fake. It’s like you got a toy at Christmas and it’s worn out by the New Year. He just uses it over and over, and it’s a really good one, but we need him to score for us, obviously. He’s gotten a lot more confident recently.”

Moore heard from KU, Seton Hall, West Virginia, Wake Forest and others in recruiting. Instead, he joins a Kansas team that went 23-11 last season.

“He’s just grown up as a man,” Mississippi State teammate Cameron Matthews said of Moore at last year’s SEC Media Days, as reported by hailstate.com. “He’s become more mature about how he handles things.”

Jans said at that time: “There’s a reason he’s here representing us at Media Days. There’s a reason we chose him to represent our program and our university. He’s here because of what he’s done since that game in Dayton and the work that he’s put in — everything from his attitude, his approach, his mindset. It’s been really cool to be a small part in watching Shak transform, if you will, in terms of his craft and how important all this is to him.”

The game in Dayton referred to by Jans was a 60-59 NCAA Tournament First Four loss to Pitt on March 14, 2023. Moore missed a shot from the corner as the clock was expiring. The Bulldogs’ putback attempt missed, ending his junior season.

This past March, Moore scored five points on 2-of-7 shooting (1-of-4 beyond the arc) while playing 26 minutes in a 69-51 Round of 64 NCAA Tournament loss to Michigan State. That concluded a 21-14 season.

“His time spent on the Bulldogs’ floor had a gradual decline over three seasons as he averaged 28 minutes per game in his sophomore year, 26.3 minutes in his junior year and this season he was playing just 23.5 minutes,” wrote SI.com’s Hunter De Siver. “That said, Moore made a big impact with the starters and bench players this season, as he helped the Bulldogs earn a 21-14 regular season record, two SEC Tournament victories and an appearance in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.”

De Siver added: “One likely factor in the decline (in minutes) this season was the emergence of freshman phenom guard Josh Hubbard. ... Shortly before Moore entered the transfer portal, Hubbard announced that he was returning for a sophomore season with the maroon and white, meaning that a starting role for him and another minute restriction for Moore, who is entering a graduate season, would’ve been inevitable.”

Moore, by the way, has earned his undergraduate degree. He posted on the school’s X account: “This is a big accomplishment for me. Earning this degree means everything to me since I am the first to do it within my family. It is a big accomplishment for my family. Mississippi State has prepared me to grow into adulthood early. I have been 10 hours away from my family and being here has allowed me to grow into the man I am today.”

Moore joins a KU roster that includes several guards. They are fellow transfers AJ Storr (Wisconsin), Rylan Griffen (Alabama) and Zeke Mayo (South Dakota State), starting point guard Dajuan Harris, returnee Jamari McDowell and freshman Rakease Passmore.

Newcomer Noah Shelby, formerly of Rice, is a nonscholarship addition at guard who coach Bill Self has said would redshirt this season.