Former Rainier Beach basketball player Reggie Moore signs letter to play for WSU

New Cougars coach Ken Bone lands guard from Seattle who played at a prep school in New Hampshire this last year.

Seattle Times staff reporter

Barely three weeks into the tenure of coach Ken Bone, the Washington State basketball program has made an inroad that proved difficult even in the best of recent times for the WSU program.

Reggie Moore, a 2008 grad of Rainier Beach High School who now attends Brewster Academy in New Hampshire, has signed a letter of intent with the Cougars.

It marks a rare signee from Seattle for the WSU program, which has ranged far nationally and internationally to become competitive.

"Especially with a player of his caliber, and coming from Rainier Beach, that's exciting for us," WSU assistant coach Curtis Allen said. "We want to do a great job of recruiting over there."

Moore, a 6-1 guard, averaged 13 points and 10 assists at Beach and then signed with Fresno State. But he requested and was granted a release from the letter and attended prep school.

Moore visited Oregon and Iowa State, and turned down visits to Memphis and UCLA, which apparently is unsure about the status of guard Jrue Holiday, who has entered his name in the NBA draft without hiring an agent.

"Reggie is exactly what we needed to add to our backcourt," Bone said in a release. "He's a multi-dimensional guard that can play a couple of positions. With the addition of Reggie, I really like our young guards."

Earlier, WSU locked up a previous commitment from Pleasant Grove, Calif. guard Xavier Thames, who had signed under the Tony Bennett regime.

Allen said Moore and Thames "can play together. We don't get caught up in a who's-the-point-guard deal. In our system, it's more get-it-and-go."

Moore averaged 11 points and five assists at Brewster.

Zags add guard

G.J. Vilarino, a 5-11 point guard from McKinney, Texas who was released from a letter of intent at Kentucky after the hire of coach John Calipari, has decided to attend Gonzaga, his father told the Louisville Courier-Journal.

Vilarino was born in Spokane and has relatives there, his father said.

Bud Withers: 206-464-8281 or bwithers@seattletimes.com

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Comments (26)

Romar had Reggie Moore on LOCK,,then once Abdul decided to come, bye bye Reggie..I like Reggie's game, but once again Wazzu gets another UW... Posted on April 29, 2009 at 10:08 PM by RIP TY. Jump to comment

Funny that the Cougs are ridiculing the Husky Football team. They forget that the worst team in Division 1, and maybe the worst team in PAC... Posted on April 30, 2009 at 1:31 PM by gatorator. Jump to comment

I am a huge Dawg fan just to put it out there. But honestly, when I watched Moore in High School, he to me, resembled alot of Kyle Weaver. Wasnt... Posted on April 30, 2009 at 7:07 PM by shunsinger. Jump to comment

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