When speaking to reporters at the recent Elite 11 event in California, five-star quarterback Dante Moore mentioned that he never planned to announce a list of top schools in his recruitment before coming to a decision. True to his word, the Detroit-King High School star will make his commitment Friday without ever releasing a shortened list of options.
Wednesday, Moore announced that his commitment will come this week as he picks his future college on the 9 a.m. (PDT) edition of SportsCenter on ESPN. The ninth-ranked prospect in the 2023 class has made several visits recently putting some schools in better position than others.
The 6-foot-3 recruit visited Oregon on an official visit in the spring, and he made a return trip two weeks ago as the Ducks hosted their biggest recruiting weekend of the month.
That unofficial visit gave Moore an opportunity to meet with some of Oregon's other top targets while also giving him another chance to spend time around Dan Lanning's coaching staff.
Moore and Oregon offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham have a relationship that goes back years to the latter's time at Florida State. That bond has continued to grow now that Dillingham is leading the offense in Eugene, and it is a relationship that has become important to the five-star quarterback.
In fact, all his relationships with Oregon's coaches have become a big part of the process with the Ducks.
"One thing I appreciate is if you know their back story of them being parents, them being a coach and what it took for them to be a coach, and a lot of people on staff have their why," Moore said last week. "If you really understand the why of coach Lanning and what he's done to get to that spot, coach Dillingham and the other coaches on staff and really take that in and appreciate that staff and what they're doing."
The latest visit also to Oregon allowed Moore to dive deeper into his fit in the offense plus it gave him an opportunity to meet Marcus Mariota and pick the brain of the former Ducks star quarterback.
All of it has led to Oregon being the favorite to land Moore heading into his announcement. The Ducks currently hold 83% of the Rivals FutureCast selections.
Throughout the course of the recruitment many schools have been in the mix. Notre Dame jumped out as an early favorite while Michigan, LSU, Texas A&M all became involved in the process as well.
As the quarterback pieces have fallen into place around the country in recent months, Moore emerged as a priority target for several programs. Oregon seemingly has put all its eggs in one basket this summer.
That plan could be on the verge of paying off for the Ducks as Moore heads into his announcement this week.
Moore has continued to back up his lofty ranking this offseason. He has shined in many national events in recent weeks including finishing among the top performers at last week's Elite 11 quarterback competition.
Should he land at Oregon, Moore would be just the second five-star quarterback to sign with the Ducks during the Rivals era, which spans the last 20 years.
