Winthrop’s Keon Moore headed to Italy for pro hoops

Keon Moore’s recently signed contract with an Italian pro basketball team called for an automobile to be included in his compensation. The 6-foot-5 former Winthrop standout hopes it’s one he can fit in.

“I’m just glad I’m driving on the right side of the road and it’s an automatic,” he said on Monday, laughing.

After brief auditions with the NBA’s Boston Celtics and Charlotte Hornets, Moore recently signed with Paffoni Fulgor Omegna Basket, a team in Italy’s second division of pro hoops, Serie A2. He leaves for preseason camp on Aug. 14.

Moore will play basketball in Omegna, a mountain valley town of about 15,000 perched on the shores of Lago d’Orta in northwest Italy, about an hour south of the Swiss border. Serie A2 teams are allowed two roster spots for Americans, and Moore is Fulgor’s first such signing for the upcoming season. The team could have signed an American that had already played overseas, but it opted for the untested former Eagle instead.

“It’s very, very selective, so I’m fortunate,” said Moore, who does plan to try and reach the NBA again next summer.

In a statement (roughly) Google translated from Fulgor’s web site, the club’s sporting director, Michele Burlotto, said, “Keon is a guy of great value and a versatile athlete for our system of play that is being created. He showed immediately proactive (sic) and enthusiasm for this new adventure.”

Moore had other options in Germany, Finland and Italy, but was impressed with Omegna’s focus on player development. Alex Johnson, Moore’s agent with the Two Points Management Company, said that Omegna was the right destination for Moore because he should be featured prominently in the offense in a league that is probably the best second division in Europe.

“They like that he can shoot,” said Johnson. “They saw the potential that all Winthrop fans did as well.”

Moore enjoyed a FaceTime conversation for over an hour with Alessandro Magro, the team’s coach who is fluent in English. It’s comforting that Magro speaks English, but Moore knows he’s going to have to pick up some Italian as one of just two Americans on the team.

“The head nod and head shake won’t work for me,” he said. “I’ll have to know a few words. I’m looking forward to embracing the culture and also I’m only an hour and a half from Milan, the fashion capital of the world. Getting a chance to hop on a train and go there, and just the food and the people, I’m just looking forward to all that.”

Moore had an excellent senior year for Winthrop, leading the team with 18.5 points per game and hitting 43 percent of his 3-point attempts. He also averaged 5.2 rebounds (second on the team) and a team-high 44 steals (in 32 games). He was a first team All-Big South selection, just two seasons after transferring from Division II Catawba College.

Winthrop coach Pat Kelsey thinks Moore has a “long, long professional career in front of him,” because of his attention to honing his craft.

“He loves being a basketball player and working on his craft,” said Kelsey. “If he improves at the same rate he improved throughout his college basketball career, over the next four or five years, he’ll have a very, very successful career.”

Moore made the leap from NCAA Division II to Division I with no problem. It was just another change in a life that’s been full of them; Moore lived in six different places by the time he was 16 years old. Kelsey thinks he’ll have no problem with this latest move either.

“I think not only the basketball part of it but the cultural aspect is something he’ll embrace,” said Kelsey during the Winthrop basketball camp’s lunch break Monday. “Sometimes guys go over there and they go into a bunker and they stay in their apartment, stay on Facebook, don’t learn the language and just go to the gym. I really think he’ll embrace that.”

Moore has been working out this summer in Fort Mill with a number of veteran pro basketball players, including former Winthrop sharpshooter and European hoops standout Michael Jenkins. He has also spent the last few weeks visiting family he won’t see for a while once he heads overseas. With the contract signed, and the car and apartment picked out, all that’s left is for Moore to get his visa and hop on a plane.

“I’m a guy that’s used to different situations so I’m going into this with an open mind like I do everything,” he said. “I won’t be one of those guys that are looking for something or just staying in all the time. I’m gonna be the most Italian American you’ve ever seen.”

This story was originally published July 27, 2015 at 4:04 PM with the headline "Winthrop’s Keon Moore headed to Italy for pro hoops."