Dunk King Taze Moore Finds His Opportunities Soaring — UH Flyer Shows NBA Dunkers How It’s Done, But His Pro Future Goes Beyond Slams

Showmanship, creativity and pure no-way athletic hops are what great dunks are made of. University of Houston high flyer Taze Moore brought them all to the NCAA’s often under-the-radar slam dunk contest. He showed NBA dunkers how it should be done with three perfect dunks to win a title that no one could call boring.

Coming in the long wake of NBA All-Star weekend’s below lackluster dunk contest — one largely panned as the worst dunk contest of all time — it’s easy to make another leap.

That the NBA would be lucky to have Taze Moore in its next dunk contest. But that misses the larger point. That Taze Moore may no longer need to be lucky to make the NBA. That has little to do with Moore’s impressive dunk contest. (It merely confirms what NBA scouts largely already knew — that Taze Moore’s otherworldly athleticism is back despite five surgeries on his right leg, the one he calls his million dollar leg).

Instead, Moore’s rising draft profile has everything to do with how he played in the NCAA Tournament for a 32-6 Houston team.

“I think in a lot of ways his life has changed,” UH assistant coach Kellen Sampson tells PaperCity. “The trajectory he’s on and the opportunities he’s going to have in the next four to six months to keep pushing forward in basketball. . .

“I think he found something about himself. He found out when he really commits and he goes after it, he’s good enough.”

Moore played his best for Houston in March, making the All-AAC Tournament team with a stellar three game run in Fort Worth, putting up 21 points and seven rebounds to lead the Cougars to that toppling of Big Ten co-champion Illinois, scoring a team-high 15 points when no one else could get going in the Elite Eight loss to Villanova.

At this point, it’s hard to imagine Taze Moore not getting a chance to make an NBA impression either as a dark horse late second round draft pick or a training camp invitee. And agents are starting to take notice, reaching out to Moore to offer their services.

“I got a couple of people,” Moore says when I ask him about agents contacting him. “Not too many. I ain’t going to say not too many. I just don’t wanna talk about it too much.”

The most athletic player at the University of Houston since NBA Top 75 player Clyde Drexler will get a chance to make an impression on NBA teams. And it only takes one team to recognize what he can do as former UH player Armoni Brooks showed by turning 10-day stints with the Toronto Raptors into a partially guaranteed two year contract after getting released by the Houston Rockets.

Now, it is up to Taze Moore to make the most of his NBA workouts and a future training camp stint. This athletic guard certainly made the most of his one season in Houston, letting one of the best coaching staffs in America hone his game.

“What we try to do with each one of our kids is convince them that their best is good enough,” Kellen Sampson says. “And if you let us, we’re going to get you to your best. And hopefully Taze has a lot of belief and conviction in himself going forward.

“We loved coaching him. He’s a special kid.”

One with a dynamic personality that came through in that dunk contest. Moore is aware and appreciative of slam dunk history enough to come out in a Vince Carter Raptors jersey — and end the dunk with his arm halfway through the net. He’s athletic enough to pull off an insane double tap dunk. And he’s creative enough to make his final dunk one where he’s jumping over another tall human, who is attempting to Instagram Live the whole thing, and then catching an alley-oop pass with one hand and slamming it through while grabbing the rim with his other hand.

Those are three masterpiece worthy dunks. Showy, creative and crazy athletic.

“I think in a lot of ways his life has changed.” — UH assistant coach Kellen Sampson on Taze Moore

“Taze Moore from Houston is the best athlete in the building,” ESPN college basketball voice Jay Bilas says on the air.

Of course, this is nothing new for Bilas. He first started raving to PaperCity about Taze Moore back in November.

Taze Moore and the NBA

After his contest win — which earned him a $5,000 check and a gaudy WWE worthy championship belt — Moore just went looking for his mom Kenya Sutherland in the arena. A hug with mom would his real celebration.

“I’m just thankful, appreciative,” Moore says live on ESPN. “Got my beautiful mom here.”

Everyone loves the dunks. Even mom. But Taze Moore learned he is much more than just a dunker at the University of Houston. He’s a freak athlete sure. But he’s more than just a freak athlete. He’s a complete player too.

“I always knew I could play this type of game,” Moore tells PaperCity of what he showed at Houston. “Because they believed in me, I know the type of player I am.

“I’m a hard-nosed guy. I’m going to leave it all out on the floor.”

The rightful dunk king is now looking for much more.

To learn about everything Tase Moore had to overcome to get here, from surgery after surgery to the grueling seemingly endless rehab and the best friend he lost to violence, read PaperCity’s complete profilefrom earlier this season.