WEST ORANGE, N.J. – Matthew Moyer lost his footing and slipped. He looked like he was about to get hurt.

But then the rising high school senior gathered himself, spun inside past two defenders and arched his left hand high, floating the ball in past two swooping defender’s hands.

Two Syracuse commits – one of which was Moyer – along with many other SU targets and players with offers, joined some of the nation’s top talent east of the Mississippi river Saturday night at the Mary Kline Classic. The basketball tournament, started by Syracuse senior Alex Kline in memoriam of his mother, who died from brain cancer, played its fifth annual event in the West Orange high school gymnasium. The event raised $43,000 for cancer research.

Moustapha Diagne, Four-Star Power Forward, Class of 2015, Committed

Though he said he was there just for fun, Diagne, listed as 6 feet 8 inches and 240 pounds by Scout, wasted no time in throwing his weight around.

When receiving the ball in the low post, he varied his movements from using a power-dribble into a drop-step and spinning into the lane. Diagne drew “Oohs!” from the crowd when he gained inside position on 6-foot-11-inch tall Josh Sharma, a Stanford commit, and powered through his larger opponent to finish a lay-up. He also deftly used his left hand to finishing a leaner in traffic and fooled an opponent with a drive and a reverse lay-up.

“I’ve been working for everything for next level,” Diagne said. “I know I can get a lot better. I’ve been working on my jump shot from 15 feet, 17 feet.”

Diagne put that practice to use in the Classic, making two-of-four jumpers, one being a fadeaway that followed a crossover. He attempted one 3-pointer that clanged off the far rim.

Diagne pushed the ball up the court often, once throwing a nice bounce pass for a dunk. He also turned the ball over twice.

Matthew Moyer, Four-Star Power Forward, Class of 2016, Committed

Moyer’s night didn’t start well. He missed a 3-pointer from the top of the arc and then committed a foul.

But he soon found his rhythm and led his team in scoring with 12 points at halftime behind three straight possessions which ended with a Moyer dunk.

Moyer, currently Syracuse’s only 2016 commit, consistently drew double-teams off the pick-and-roll and found big men open underneath for easy dunks. He also shot three jumpers, something he’ll be working on a lot more this summer.

“I’m trying to be known as a knock-down shooter, not just an athlete,” Moyer said.

He said he’s talked daily with Syracuse assistant coach Gerry McNamara and two or three times per week with head coach Jim Boeheim.

“When we talk, it’s never about ball,” Moyer said. “It’s like, ‘Should I break up with my girl?’ or things like that. Life things. Special program, special people. With G-Mac, it’s like a father-figure and son.”

Jack Meriwether, who coached against Moyer in the game, said he could tell Moyer wasn’t pushing his hardest because he’s a big-game player, but that his staff still had trouble deciding who to guard Moyer with. He’s too big for guards and too quick for big guys, Meriwether said.

Moyer will attend an NBA Top 100 camp in two weeks.

Trevon Duval, Five-Star Point Guard, Class of 2017, Offered 

Duval missed an alley-oop, a dunk and a jump-shot to open the game and was visibly frustrated.

But after a drive, dish and dunk by a teammate, Duval’s play improved. He drew fouls, hit his free throws and distributed to teammates, but also had four turnovers.

Duval visited Syracuse last year during Midnight Madness, and said he’s received offers from Villanova, Virginia Tech, Maryland and California.

“I’ve got no time-table for picking schools,” he said. “Right now, I’m getting a lot of mail.”

His uncle, Frank Martins, said he’s also been offered by Michigan and that he’ll starting short-listing schools at the end of next summer, but they haven’t even talked about it yet. Duval was born in New York, Martins added, and that his family grew up Syracuse and St. Johns fans.

Sedee Keita, Four-Star Power Forward, Class of 2016, Offered

Keita, quick for a big man listed at 6-foot-9 and 220 pounds, was very active on the defensive end and forced two turnovers. But he committed some turnovers as well on the other end of the floor.

The South Carolina native, with other offers from Iowa State and Memphis, missed two lay-ups at one point, but snagged the third rebound and put it home. He rebounded well and had one particularly thunderous block.

Jordan Tucker, Four-Star Small Forward, Class of 2017, Offered

Tucker missed three 3-pointers, one of which was tightly contested, and two jumpers. He turned the ball over twice and missed a lay-up.

Nicholas Richards, Four-Star Center, Class of 2017, Offered

Richards had to bow out of the classic due to other obligations, Kline said.

Published on May 31, 2015 at 12:15 am

Contact Sam: sjfortie@syr.edu | @Sam4TR