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Pete ThamelESPN
Dante Moore, the no. 3 player in the Class of 2023, told ESPN he flipped his college commitment to UCLA of Oregon.
Moore is a 6-foot-3, 200-pound quarterback from mighty Martin Luther King High School in Detroit. He led King to a state title earlier this month, and during a four-year high school career as a starter, he threw for 135 total touchdowns and nearly 10,000 yards.
Moore visited UCLA earlier this month and said he chose the Bruins because he thought it would be better for his development.
“I went to visit UCLA,” Moore told ESPN. “I spoke to God and to my people and really to myself. I knew UCLA was the right move for me.”
Moore said the biggest factor in his Oregon turnaround was former Oregon offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham, who took over as head coach at Arizona State. He said he had built a relationship with Dillingham that dated back at least three years. He said he was happy for Dillingham – “I’m proud of him, no hate at all” – and appreciated everything the Oregon staff did in recruiting him.
Moore had been interned there since July. He said quarterback Bo Nix’s decision to return next year, which was announced last night, did not factor into his decision. He said he appreciated how the Oregon coaches handled his decision to commit elsewhere.
“It’s a place that I still really love,” Moore said. “No love lost at all. I appreciate that they recruited me, took my commitment and understood my position.”
Moore’s commitment marks the highest-profile recruiting victory of Chip Kelly’s tenure at Westwood, which is entering its sixth season. Moore trails only 1 Malachi Nelson (USC) and No. 2 Arch Manning (Texas) in the ESPN 300 rankings.
According to ESPN Stats & Information research, Moore’s commitment as the No. 3 player in the class ties a record for UCLA, as he would join Jaelan Phillips of the Class of 2017 for the highest-ranked rookie in history. from school. (The ESPN ranking dates back to 2006.) Moore is also the first five-star ESPN 300 rookie in Kelly’s career, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
Moore said UCLA heading to the Big Ten, where he starts playing in the 2024 season, was a factor in his decision.
“The TV time and the exposure is going to be great for me to portray myself as a quarterback and to be an athlete at this point,” he said.
Moore said NIL didn’t play a big role in her decision. He acknowledged that if he played well at UCLA there would be NIL opportunities, but he said during his recruiting visits that he would refuse to go to NIL meetings if they were on his itinerary. He said he didn’t want a dollar amount thrown at him by a school that would impact a decision that should be football-based.
“I want football to remain the main thing, to be a student and to enjoy life,” he said. “Football is my main activity. That’s what I love and I can keep that as my main thing.”
Moore credits the bond he built with Kelly, quarterback coach Ryan Gunderson and receivers coach Jerry Neuheisel in recruiting him.
Kelly is one of the most innovative offensive callers in college football, and Moore gives him a top quarterback who could be a linchpin for the Bruins when they arrive in the Big Ten.
Moore grew up watching Marcus Mariota in Oregon and remembers the run-pass option play Kelly ran while coaching Mariota there, before Kelly left for the NFL.
Kelly is entering his sixth year at UCLA and is 17-7 the past two years.
Over the course of his career, Kelly has found ways to maximize different quarterbacking styles, as he led Oregon’s Dennis Dixon through a Heisman-caliber season in 2007, when Dixon was named Pac Offensive Player. -10 of the year. Dixon’s Heisman campaign was derailed by injury.
Kelly trained Ricky Santos to be FCS’s MVP in New Hampshire in 2005, worked with Darron Thomas on a team that played for the national title in 2010, and led Mariota to a prolific freshman season in red shirt in 2012. Kelly’s return to college football at UCLA featured five years of Dorian Thompson Robinson as a primary starter at quarterback, including a stellar 2022 when he accounted for 36 touchdowns.
Kelly has coached both the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers as an NFL head coach. Along with Mariota, Moore also mentioned Kelly coaching Colin Kaepernick in the NFL as someone he had watched over the year.
Moore said his priority in recruiting was somewhere that could develop him best, and he feels like he found that at UCLA.
“Coach Kelly, him being in the game for so long and being in the NFL and being in college and recruiting young kids, he told us not to rush anything,” Moore said. He added: “Coach Kelly is a funny guy, very smart. He knows a lot about the body and how quarterbacks work and has a program that benefits the player. … I know Coach Kelly is a great mentor and a person I can trust through my years in college.
Moore’s engagement marks the quarterback’s second significant engagement for UCLA in recent days. Kent State Transfer Collin Schlee announced on Saturday that he was signing with the Bruins.
Moore told ESPN that he graduated high school early and will enroll at UCLA in January.
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