University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball coach Lamont Paris made the signing of Myrtle Beach, S.C., resident Duane Moss official on Tuesday.
The 6-foot-7 Moss, who initially signed with Youngstown State, was granted a release from his letter of intent to the Ohio school after coach Jerry Slocum retired.
As a senior battling through some injuries, he averaged 13.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game at Carolina Forest High School in Myrtle Beach, coming after a junior year in which he averaged 19.5 points per game. The two-star prospect by verbalcommits.com is expected to help UTC at the 4 position.
His dad, Benny, is the associate head coach at Coastal Carolina.
“As a coach’s son, it breeds a lot of confidence in the fact they’ve been around the game at a high level their entire life,” Paris said in a news release. “Duane’s been instructed by his dad; he’s been around his dad’s teams and players. He thinks the game at a high level great instinct.
“Good hands, good skill level. He needs to get better from a strength and conditioning standpoint like most high school guys do. Extremely excited about his skill-set as a combo forward. When I think of some of the things we want to do on the basketball court, he embodies a lot of that as a player.”
Moss becomes one of five freshmen on a 2017-18 Mocs roster that includes only one senior, forward Trayvond Massenburg.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.