KNOXVILLE -- Once upon a time, Armani Moore came to Tennessee to play point guard.
Some three years later, he's posing as an undersized power forward and scrapping his way onto the list of the Southeastern Conference's leading rebounders.
Listed at 6-foot-5, Moore, after 25 grabbing 25 boards in the last three games, is leading the Volunteers with at seven rebounds per game, which puts him at seventh in the SEC.
Moore said before Wednesday's practice at Thompson-Boling Arena he doesn't spend much time reminiscing his short-lived days as Tennessee's backup point guard during his freshman season.
"I just know that when I was coming into college, I just wanted to say, 'All right, whatever I've got to do to get on the floor, I'll do it,'" he said. "Once I got that down pat, I wasn't really worried about what position I was going to be playing. I was just trying to figure out how could I be in effective in (that) role."
Moore certainly was effective against Ole Miss last weekend, when he had 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists. He has a team-high four double-doubles on the season, most recently a 19-point, 13-rebound game against Auburn on Jan. 31. Moore led the Vols in rebounding in 17 of 26 games this season.
The junior also leads Tennessee in blocked shots, a category in which he's ranked 10th in the SEC.
"It just shows that it's a mentality," he said. "It doesn't really matter how tall you are. I'm a competitor, and I just want to go out each and every night competing for my team. I do a job that most guys at 6-foot-5 would say is not an easy job.
"My teammates show that they've got (confidence) in me, so I show courage in myself. As long as I've got them supporting me and always standing behind me, then I feel comfortable with what I'm doing."
Donnie Tyndall, Tennessee's first-year coach, said Moore possesses many of the same qualities as Kenneth Faried, who at 6-foot-8 led the country in rebounding while playing for him at Morehead State before going on to play in the NBA with the Denver Nuggets.
The Vols' coach also often has said this season senior guard Josh Richardson is his team's only playmaker, but Moore is starting to acquire that label as well.
"He thinks he's a playmaker, I know that," Tyndall said. "I think obviously he's a different type of playmaker in the fact that when you hear that term, you think of perimeter players breaking guys down off the dribble (and) getting in the paint.
"Armani's more what we call a straight-line drive, but he is a playmaker because he has that advantage over a big guy closing out to him in a lot of instances. I think he's probably a guy you'd consider a playmaker.
"He does a lot of good things for us, no question."
Cuonzo Martin and Tennessee's previous coaching staff recruited Moore as a point guard, and Rivals listed him as a shooting guard coming out of Mount Paran Christian School in the Atlanta area.
His time as a point guard didn't last long, though, as his struggles with ball-handling and perimeter shooting made him better suited to play on the wing, where he could slash to the basket and use his athleticism.
After averaging 2.4 points and 2.6 rebounds in 13.2 minutes as a freshman and 3.1 points and 2.2 rebounds in 12.9 minutes last season, Moore began this season going back and forth between the wing and a forward spot.
Moore said he usually spends 20 or 30 minutes before practice working on his post moves, and he's been effective both with his back to the basket on the block and driving against bigger defenders.
"The biggest thing for me was at the beginning of the season was I was speeding myself up and trying to go a little bit too fast," he said, "but once I ended up slowing down and letting the game come to me, I felt like I was a little bit more effective."
Tyndall believes Moore thinking he's better than he is helps him in the role he has to play for Tennessee.
"I say that in a complimentary way," he said, "because I think any time you're undersized, or you're playing a little bit out of position like he has to this season, if you aren't tough and if you aren't tough-minded and you don't think you're pretty good, then it'll cave you in.
"On the flip side, him thinking he's a very good player helps him to play with a confidence and a swagger that probably helps him to play over his head or over his talent level, and that's a compliment to him."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.