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After he made a 70-foot shot at the buzzer to seal a 66-65 win for UC Riverside at Arizona State on Thursday night, JP Moorman II sent his friend a message: “This is because of you.”
That friend is Chris Paul.
The Phoenix Suns All-Star met with UC Riverside — a Big West school that considered eliminating athletics a year ago to save money — for 45 minutes prior to their upset over the Sun Devils.
Moorman, a Greensboro, North Carolina native, met Paul when he played on his grassroots squad, CP3 All-Stars. While Paul mentored him in the past, he said now they’re more like friends. When he landed in Phoenix for Thursday’s game, he asked Paul if he might have some time to talk to the team.
“It kind of worked out where I hit him up when we landed and asked him what he had going on after his game and he told me he was going to [STK Steakhouse] and asked if I wanted to come,” Moorman said. “I told him to hit me in the morning and maybe you could come by and speak to the team. He said, ‘All right, just let me know where you’re staying.’ The rest is history.”
Shortly before the team’s pregame shootaround, Paul arrived.
He talked to the players about brotherhood, focus and the tools he’s used in his Hall of Fame career. An energized shootaround followed.
“It was a beautiful 45 minutes for a coach,” UC-Riverside Mike Magpayo said. “I sat down and I enjoyed every second of it. He talked about leadership. He talked about the energy you need to have. … [Moorman] brought Chris Paul in and these guys’ eyes lit up. I told these guys I wish these guys looked at me the way they look at Chris Paul when he walked into the room.”
Hours later, Moorman would make one of the biggest shots in school history.
Before each game, Moorman will not go back to the locker room until he makes at least one half-court shot. His 70-footer on Thursday, however, demanded some maneuvering. He had to dodge a defender, spin near the baseline and launch the shot at an awkward angle.
“I felt the defender — he…
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Source : espn
