www.dailyherald.com/localsports/story.asp?id=288941Unassuming Moran always about team
By Jerry Fitzpatrick
Daily Herald Sports Writer
Posted Friday, March 09, 2007
The words humble and superstar don’t appear in the same sentence very often.
But those adjectives precisely describe Jacobs junior guard John Moran, who isn’t your run-of-the-mill high school boys basketball star.
“Some athletes you talk to you know they are great athletes in the first couple of minutes because they’re sure to tell you,” said Jacobs coach Jim Hinkle, “but you could talk to Johnny for a week and not know.
“He’s the most unselfish and the most humble player I’ve ever been around. And let me tell you something: he knows he’s better than these guys. He knows that.”
Yet, John Moran, the son of Jim and Rita Moran of Algonquin and the third of four Irish-Catholic, basketball-crazed brothers, would sooner give up the sport he loves than sing his own praises.
After each game Moran first credits the efforts of his teammates before addressing his own play. He is a true throwback player in the mode of a Bob Cousy and has no use for any statistic other than the number that appears in the win column, which is why the burgeoning leader took pride in helping the Golden Eagles to a school record of 26 wins this season.
“To me, this game isn’t about scoring points or personal stats,” Moran said. “I don’t see why anyone would approach it any other way. You play to try to win the game and you do whatever you have to do to that. It’s not about anything personal.”
Hinkle stated numerous times over the past two seasons that John Moran could be a 30- to 35-point scorer were that Moran’s goal. It isn’t.
Instead, he chooses to get his points within the flow of the game, many of which come as the result of fast-break layups following one of his area-best 115 steals this season.
Though he doesn’t dwell on scoring, Moran still managed 511 points in 28 games for an average of 18.3, second in the area only to Burlington Central guard Cully Payne (21.7).
Moran finished the year with 104 assists (3.7 avg.), shot 59 percent from the field on 2-point attempts (147 of 249), 38 percent on 3-point attempts (48 of 127), 81 percent from the free-throw line (73 of 90) and grabbed 73 rebounds for good measure — just some of the many reasons John Moran has been named an honorary co-captain of the 2006-07 Daily Herald Fox Valley All-Area team.
He and fellow co-captain Payne will be honored along with the all-area team and the players of the week at the Daily Herald's annual basketball recognition dinner at the Stonegate Banquet and Conference Centre in Hoffman Estates on Sunday, March 18.
Even the coach of Jacobs’ arch rival, Dundee-Crown’s Lance Huber, can’t help but admire Moran’s skill and overall tenacity.
“When Hinkle told me (three years ago) he had a kid coming in who was going to break all of Eric Veirneisel’s records, I said ‘Who the heck is this kid?’ ” Huber recalled this week. “I mean, Vierneisel was a pretty good player and you’ve got somebody better than him coming in?
“Then I saw Moran play as a freshman and I said, ‘Whoa, he’s gonna be good.’ He hasn’t disappointed. He adds to his game every year. He’s such a fierce competitor. He can handle the ball, he can play defense, he has quick hands, he can shoot it, he can take it to the hole, he can finish — he’s the real deal.”
Moran credits his older brothers Jim and Kevin, both of whom played basketball at Jacobs, for helping him and sophomore brother Tim Moran sharpen their competitive edge.
The Moran family, of course, always had a basketball hoop in the driveway, but the real action usually took place across the street in Algonquin’s Gaslight Park, which has seen more dribbling than the parents of quintuplets. “The hoops are like 100 yards away from our front door,” said Johnny, the moniker by which he is referred to by everyone from his brothers to his coaches to his fans.
“Winning is all that matters and I definitely got that from my older brothers, Jim and Kevin,” Johnny said. “They definitely rubbed off on me and my younger brother, Timmy. They were so competitive and were always pushing us. Obviously, they didn’t want to get beaten by their little brothers.”
Already a great player and a leader by deed, John Moran took ownership of the Golden Eagles this season.
“He made tremendous strides,” said Hinkle. “For about two and a half years he was content to be the hardest-working and best player out there, but all the sudden about halfway through the year he started taking over the leadership role. Johnny really stepped up. He can get on his teammates and they respect him because they know all he wants to do is win.”
Hinkle said his star pupil is as grounded as he is because of good parenting. John Moran couldn’t agree more.
“My mom and dad have always been my biggest supporters,” he said. “From Day 1 they’ve been there for me no matter what, good game or bad game. They always made sure I had a good attitude — that was their No. 1 thing.
“I appreciate everything they’ve done for me. There’s nothing more you can ask for than to have supportive parents who take you to everything, who go to every game. They’ve just been great.”
Speaking of great, Moran led Jacobs to the finest record in school history (26-2), but he feels his team has unfinished business to attend to next season after falling to Dundee-Crown in a regional title game.
First, there’s this little matter of a picking a college, a choice he wants to have finalized in the next few months.
Moran plans to play once again this spring for the AAU Illinois Wolves along with such talented teammates as Batavia’s Nick Freundt, Bartlett’s Kamil Janton, Tyler Thompson of West Aurora and Riverside-Brookfield’s Chris Parrish. He’d like his future to be settled by the time the AAU season ends in June.
Universities currently in the mix for Moran’s services (though more could jump in at any time) include Southern Illinois, DePaul, Wisconsin Green-Bay, Dayton, Wright State, Illinois State, and Northern Iowa, among others.“It’s not really a distraction because I don’t think about it much during the season,” Moran said of the recruiting process, “but I just want to know. It’s just easier that way.”
One thing that won’t be easy? Beating Jacobs next year with Moran returning, along with three other starters from this year’s 26-2 squad — Zach Peterson, Conrad Krutwig and Tim Moran — along with key reserves Darius Bowers, Eric Schmidt and Bobby Molinaro.
“I think we have the ability to have a similar next year to the one we had this year,” Johnny said. “We still have to work hard. (Senior guard) Kevin (Kasinger) was a big part of our team and he’s gone, so we have to fill his role. We’ll have to come out working hard right from the beginning and I’m sure we’ll do it.
“I don’t care if I score a single point next year as long as we win.”
Spoken like a humble superstar.
jfitzpatrick@dailyherald.com
