Hot streaks and second chances: UNLV’s Jovan Mooring got his Division I dream, and is eyeing a title

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Monday, Dec. 19, 2016 | 2 a.m.

Jovan Mooring doesn’t lack confidence. The Chicago native has never met a shot he didn’t think he could make or been matched up against a defender he didn’t believe he could shake.

That self-assurance has been on display for the UNLV basketball team this season, as the 6-foot-2 guard has come off the bench and taken over at times with flashy ball-handling ability and a knack for scoring in bunches. Mooring and the Rebels host Southern Illinois at 7 tonight.

But there was a point not long ago when even Mooring had to acknowledge that he might not play Division I college basketball.

He had some D-I suitors coming out of high school in 2013 and thought he was heading to Memphis, but poor grades caused his recruitment to dry up. So the high-scoring guard signed on with Lamar State, a junior college in Texas.

Things were going well at Lamar State until a hand injury ended his freshman season. That bad break, combined with a family situation back home, caused him to leave school, pack up and head back to Chicago. Mooring’s first foray into college hoops lasted less than one semester.

He spent the rest of that season and the next working to support his mother and family. Basketball took a back seat. He enrolled part-time at local Prairie State junior college, but played basketball only when he could find time to hit up an open gym with some friends and former teammates. His dream of a Division I scholarship had never been further away, but Mooring’s love for the sport remained strong.

“I did question whether or not I would play at a Division I school,” he said. “But I ... knew I was going to play again somewhere.”

In the summer of 2015, Mooring went to an open gym at South Suburban, a Division II junior college in Illinois. The school’s coach, John Pigatti, was supervising the session and watched Mooring light it up against some of his players. Come to South Suburban, Pigatti told Mooring, and dominate for a year, get your grades in order and earn a new scholarship.

Mooring signed on and the next season led the nation with 26.6 points per game and won JUCO Division II player of the year honors. He was officially back on the Division I radar, and when Chris Beard took the head coaching job at UNLV, Mooring became one of his first recruiting targets.

Beard didn’t stay in Las Vegas long, but the Rebels remained interested in Mooring even after Beard bolted for Texas Tech and Marvin Menzies took over. Mooring signed late as part of Menzies’ first class and showed up on campus in August.

Mooring soon realized that his freewheeling style wasn’t going to cut it at UNLV. He had the green light to shoot from anywhere at South Suburban, but Menzies wanted him to play point guard, distributing the ball and being a more selective shooter.

It’s been an adjustment for a player who had always been the No. 1 scoring option for his teams.

“Scoring has always been a natural thing for me,” Mooring said. “I’m comfortable doing that. In high school, I just wanted to score and look good for everybody. Changing has been a challenge. … I definitely see a lot of times where I could take shots that I’m used to making, but those are shots I’m not shooting here. It’s trust that the coaches will put me in a position to be successful.”

The early results have been mixed. Mooring scored 12 straight points late in the second half to help the Rebels beat Cal State Fullerton, and he scored 11 in the final seven minutes of a win at Southern Utah. But he hasn’t looked entirely comfortable at point guard, as turnover issues (team-high 4.2 per 40 minutes) and cold shooting (37 percent) have muted his impact.

Mooring remains confident he’ll find his stroke and help get UNLV back on track. Asked about his goals for his final two years of college eligibility, he says he wants to win a Mountain West championship and play in the NCAA tournament. And beyond that?

“I want to be a pro,” he said with a smile.

Those goals may seem out of reach at the moment, but Mooring has been further away before. It’s only made him more sure that he’ll get there.