One of the greatest shows in Los Angeles is on display less than two miles south of USC.
The show is Devin Moody, and if you ask Manual Arts’ lead business teacher, Nichét Gray, it takes place in the classroom.
“I was just sitting next to our girls’ basketball coach who has an 8-year-old son,” Gray said. “And she’s like, ‘I want my son to be just like him.’”
For Oscar Carter, Moody’s coach on the boys’ basketball team, the show begins every time the ball is tipped and the game gets underway in their quaint campus gym.
“He brings that physical presence as far as pushing the ball,” Carter said. “Like how LeBron looked coming down. I mean, this is high school, but he looks that powerful coming down the court.”
And after Diego Rivera, Los Angeles and Santee fell to the Toilers in heavy defeats, they all know the show is the senior do-it-all guard. Moody, wearing dreadlocks and a contagious smile, can’t stop scoring, averaging 32.7 points per game. The reigning Exposition League player of the year etched his name in school history against Diego Rivera Learning Complex on Jan. 15, tying Manual Arts’ scoring record with 64 points in a 100-42 win — a feat untouched since Charlie Franklin achieved the same against Garfield in February 1953.
“I wasn’t aware in the game,” Moody said of the record. “It’s an honor. I really love and appreciate the love I’ve received.”
The 6-foot-4 “humble giant,” Carter says, rolls down the court with purpose. In most Exposition League games, Moody is one of the taller and bigger players on the court. But don’t discount his skill. Although Moody has an advantage in height and physicality over most of his league opposition, he’s using all facets of his game in a quest to earn a college scholarship.
Manual Arts guard Devin Moody shows off his scoring prowess during a recent game.
With Manual Arts cruising to a 92-69 victory over Santee on Wednesday — Moody finished with 56 points and 23 rebounds — he still jumped into the crowd blocking shots and found teammates with cross-court passes to sink open shots.
“I’m gonna give you 110%,” Moody said. “Every time, every night, practice, game day, everything, I’m gonna just leave it all on the floor.”
Carter and Gray both said that effort extends to the classroom. Moody wouldn’t brag about it, but he has a 3.8 grade-point average and is just as much of a leader in Gray’s class as he is on the court, she said.
“He’s a phenomenal student,” Gray said. “So respectful, I mean, I’ve never heard him say curse words, which is a big thing when you teach teenage kids. … He’s a player-coach. He’s coaching the kids, and he’s making sure that they go to class. He goes and checks, ‘Hey, did everybody come to class?’”
Moody said he already has a plan for himself: go to a four-year university, study kinesiology and become a physical therapist. But if the NBA comes calling, he quipped, he’ll be ready to take the leap. Carter said that’s the type of person Moody is — focused and determined.
Players on smaller City Section teams in lower-level divisions often face challenges in convincing recruiters they can play at the Division I level — no matter how many points they score in a game. Carter is hoping more college coaches come to Manual Arts (10-8, 5-0) in the weeks ahead and are persuaded to give Moody a scholarship offer.
“If he does the right things as far as training and focus, there’s no limit to him,” Carter said. “They have to come out and watch him and see his size. When people come out and actually see him play, his physical play, they’d be like, ‘Oh, he’s different.’
“But if I’m just telling you, and you just hear ‘Oh, this kid?’ You’re not gonna believe it.”