A couple of weeks ago, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Moses Moody was “19 years old] going on 28” in a nod to the rookie’s maturity.
Eric Musselman saw it first-hand last year when Moody put together his SEC Freshman of the Year campaign with Arkansas. Now the No. 4 seeded Razorbacks are set to face No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga on Thursday at Chase Center. Musselman joined 95.7 The Game’s “Damon & Ratto” about his team’s Sweet 16 run and what it’s like to see Moody evolve into a rotation player for the Warriors this season.
“I’m so happy,” Musselman told hosts Damon Bruce and Ray Ratto. “We had a lot of conversations with people in their front office prior to the draft. I went really strong about my opinion with Moses and my opinion about his professionalism. I think one thing an NBA team may not know is how professional, how serious a player is. ... From the day he stepped on campus, his professional approach was incredible.”
Earlier in the day, Musselman sent out a tweet showing off his ModyMoosey T-shirt.
Moody averaged 16.8 points and 5.8 rebounds last season while helping Arkansas reach the Elite Eight as a No. 3 seed. Moody recently revisited Fayetteville during the NBA All-Star break about a month ago and got a warm welcome from fans.
Musselman coached the Warriors from 2002-04, when the franchise played its home games at Oracle Arena in Oakland. Adding to the Warriors-Arkansas ties is Keith Smart, another former Warriors head coach who is Musselman's assistant. Musselman said Moody has landed in a great situation with the Warriors.
“He’s got an incredible ceiling,” Musselman said. “There was no better place for him to get drafted. If he would have gone three or four spots higher, it would not have benefitted him. He’s in the perfect spot playing for the perfect organization, the perfect coach.”
