Tristan Moore Embracing Professional Basketball Opportunity In Mexico

While Tristan Moore may be worlds away from the NBA, the former Northwest Mississippi Community College standout is still right at home on the hardwood.

Moore, a Senatobia native, is now making the most of the latest stop on his hoops journey in Mexico, suiting up for Zanahorias de Calera in the inaugural season of LEDT (Liga de Desarollo de Talentos), a basketball showcase league located in the province of Zacatecas.
“This is a great opportunity to start my professional career,” Moore said. “I’ve spoken with older players and they have told me that I’m in a great situation. Some players have started their careers in bad situations, such as not having transportation, living in dangerous areas and not getting the full amount of money from their contracts, but I have received everything that I’ve been promised and so much more.”
Moore played two seasons with the Rangers from 2012-14 and played in 48 career games, averaging 9.4 points, 2.9 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. His sophomore season is where he did most of his damage, however, finishing with 13.2 points, 3.9 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game, earning first team all-conference, NJCAA All-Region 23 and MACJC All-Star selections.
From Northwest, Moore signed with Mississippi College and averaged 12.5 points per game in two seasons with the Choctaws. He was named to the National Christian College Athletic Association All-Mideast Region Team his junior season.
Moore graduated from MC in 2016 with a degree in kinesiology and had plans to apply for graduate school in the College of Business at Ole Miss, with the hopes of someday becoming an athletic director.
However, the sport of basketball wasn’t quite finished with Moore.
“I got a call from an agent about my highlight film,” Moore recalled. “He told me about a potential opportunity with a semi-pro team in Jackson. I got the opportunity to train in Vicksburg with (former D-League player) Michael Ammons and (Harlem Globetrotter) Chris Hype. I spent two months training and traveling back and forth between Vicksburg and Senatobia.”
Moore earned a spot with the American Basketball Association’s Jackson Showboats before the start of the season in October and played in roughly 15-16 games, typically playing two per weekend. When the ABA season ended in February, another opportunity came knocking.
“Another agent (Nathan Broussard) saw me training and told me that I was better than the ABA level,” Moore said. “He made a few calls about playing in Mexico in a new startup league.”
It would be a quick turnaround for Moore, who left for Mexico on March 16, less than two weeks after receiving his passport. He was then drafted by Zanahorias de Calera (translated in English to ‘Calera Carrots’) in one of the two allotted roster spots for international players.
So far, Moore has played in every contest for Calera and scored his season-high of 42 points in a win against Mineros de Zacatecas. Calera is also 11-3 on the season and currently sits atop the league standings, slightly under the halfway mark of the league’s 30-game regular season schedule.
Being in another country isn’t the only difference Moore has experienced. In his words, the game is more physical in his league with things such as “a little tap on the wrist” not being regarded as fouls.
In addition to the added physicality, the overall strategy of the game differs from its American counterpart.
“Here they rely more on passing,” Moore said. “They move without the ball as opposed to isolation basketball in America. Part of that could be that the ball handlers here aren’t as prolific as in the U.S.”
While he’s currently enjoying his experience in Mexico, Moore is constantly looking ahead to his future and still has hopes of following through with his plans to attend graduate school.
For now, though, even more opportunities are opening for him in the sport he loves.
“My agent is working on a deal in Finland or in Austria,” Moore said. “As it stands right now, those are my options, but when I find the time while pursuing my basketball career, I still want to follow through with my academic goal.”

Courtesy of Kevin Maloney and Northwest Sports Information
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